Tbilisi International Airport

International airport in Tbilisi, Georgia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tbilisi International Airport

Shota Rustaveli Tbilisi International Airport (Georgian: თბილისის შოთა რუსთაველის სახელობის საერთაშორისო აეროპორტი) (IATA: TBS, ICAO: UGTB), is the busiest international airport in Georgia, located 17 km (11 mi) southeast of capital Tbilisi. The airport handled 4.75 million passengers in 2024. The airport is operated by TAV Airports Holding, making it a part of Groupe ADP.

Quick Facts Shota Rustaveli Tbilisi International Airport თბილისის შოთა რუსთაველის სახელობის საერთაშორისო აეროპორტი, Summary ...
Shota Rustaveli Tbilisi International Airport

თბილისის შოთა რუსთაველის სახელობის საერთაშორისო აეროპორტი
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Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerUnited Airports of Georgia LLC
OperatorTAV Airports Holding
ServesTbilisi
LocationTbilisi, Georgia
Hub for
Elevation AMSL1,624 ft / 495 m
Coordinates41°40′09″N 044°57′17″E
Websitehttps://tbilisiairport.com/
Map
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TBS/UGTB
Location within Georgia
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TBS/UGTB
TBS/UGTB (Asia)
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TBS/UGTB
TBS/UGTB (West and Central Asia)
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TBS/UGTB
TBS/UGTB (Europe)
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TBS/UGTB
TBS/UGTB (Eurasia)
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TBS/UGTB
TBS/UGTB (Afro-Eurasia)
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Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
13R/31L 3,000 9,843 Concrete
13L/31R (closed) 2,500 8,202 Asphalt
Helipads
Number Length Surface
m ft
H1 30 98 Asphalt/Concrete
Statistics (2024)
Passengers4,750,830
Passenger change 23-2425%
Source: Georgian AIP at EUROCONTROL[1]
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Over 45 airlines operate from the airport, with nonstop or direct flights to over 25 countries.[2][3]

Tbilisi Airport is a hub for Georgian Airways, flag carrier of Georgia, as well as for MyWay Airlines and Camex.

In 2015, Tbilisi City Assembly named the airport after famous medieval Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli.[4]

General

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Tbilisi Airport is home to Georgian flag carrier Georgian Airways and MyWay Airlines, which was founded in 2017. The airport is served by approximately 30 airlines, mainly from Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia serving roughly 30 destinations out of Tbilisi. Due to the increasing popularity of Georgia and the city of Tbilisi as a tourist destination, the number of travelers grew since 2010 from 1 million to almost 4 million until the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. The airspace of Georgia was closed for most of 2020 with the exception of government-mandated expatriation flights,[5] but regular international air traffic resumed as of February 2021.

Following a political row in June 2019, Russia banned flights to and from Georgia starting July 8, 2019.[6] Georgian Airways from Tbilisi to Moscow-Vnukovo have since been operated by Aircompany Armenia through Yerevan. The ban was still in effect at the end of 2021. The Kremlin has also banned all Russian airlines from flying to Georgia. A similar ban was in effect during 2006–2008.[7]

The George W. Bush Avenue (Kakheti Highway) leads from the airport to the center of Tbilisi.[8] A train service is available as well, opposite the exit of the airport building. The train leaves twice a day from the modernist station that opened in 2007.

History

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Terminal of 1952, now VIP lounge

The first airport terminal building was constructed in 1952. Designed by the architect V. Beridze in the style of Stalinist architecture the building featured a floor plan with symmetric axes and a monumental avant-corps in the form of a portico. The two wings featured blind arcades in giant order. A new terminal building was completed in 1990, designed in the International Style.[9]

In 1981 Tbilisi airport was the 12th largest airport in the Soviet Union, with 1,478,000 passengers on so-called central lines, which were flights connecting Tbilisi with cities in other Soviet republics.[10] After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the civil war and the economic crisis in the newly independent Georgia, passenger numbers had dropped to 230,000 by 1998.[11]

Tbilisi International Airport is operated by TAV Airports Holding (TAV) Urban Georgia since October 2005 which concession has been extended until at least 2027.[12] In Georgia, the company also operates Batumi International Airport for a 20-year term since May 2007. TAV Airports Holding, which owns 76% shares in Tbilisi airport operator TAV Urban Georgia, agreed with the Georgian state-owned United Airports of Georgia to reconstruct and extend the unused runway, one of the two runways at the Tbilisi airport, in line with ICAO standards to accept all type of aircraft, including the Boeing 747-8, Airbus A380-800, Antonov An-225 and Antonov An-124. A new F Code taxiway was also planned.

Modernisation

February 2007 saw the completion of a US$90.5 million reconstruction project, with the construction of a new international terminal, a car park, improvements to the apron, taxiway and runway and the acquisition of ground handling equipment and an annual passenger capacity of 2.8 million.[13] A rail link to the city centre was constructed, with an infrequent rail service of two trains per day each way. The airport got a contemporary and functional design, to provide an optimized flow of both passengers and luggage from the parking lot to the planes, with a 25,000 m2 (270,000 sq ft) total usable area, while future expansions can be implemented without interrupting terminal operations. Various food and beverage operations have been incorporated in the new terminal, including four duty-free stores. The implementing party for the project was TAV Urban Georgia, a concessionaire and Special-purpose entity for the construction and operation of the airport, and the project was financed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).[14]

In 2016, the main runway of the airport was renovated and equipped with new navigation lighting. Runway guard lights, LED stop bar signals and guidance signs at all the holding positions on the airport's main runway were also added The instrument landing system was also upgraded to CAT II, which enables aircraft to land during poor weather conditions. The airfield lighting control and monitoring system was upgraded, including installation of new lighting signals on all four taxiways. In 2017, a new arrival terminal with an area of 12,000 square metres (130,000 sq ft), integrated with the existing terminal building, was completed to meet the increasing numbers of travelers. The terminal's capacity was increased to 3.5 million passengers per year.[15] In addition to the expansion of the terminal building, this $33 million project implemented, among other things, a new boarding bridge with two exits, five new aircraft parking spaces, three 150-metre (490 ft) luggage racks and a new parking lot for 250 cars.[16]

A new Tbilisi Metro overground line linking airport with the city was announced in October 2018. The proposed extension would connect the airport with Samgori metro station as transfer point with the existing metro line. Construction was set to begin in late 2019,[17] but the project was effectively abandoned in spring 2021 when a feasibility study did not produce the desired outcome.[18]

Airlines and destinations

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Tbilisi airport mainly serves destinations in Europe and the Middle East. Below are destinations served according to press releases and the schedules authorised by the Georgian Civil Aviation Agency on a seasonal basis.[19] Last updated May 2023.

Passenger

More information Airlines, Destinations ...
AirlinesDestinations
Aegean Airlines Athens
Seasonal: Thessaloniki[20]
Air Arabia Abu Dhabi, Sharjah[19][better source needed]
Air Astana Almaty,[21] Atyrau (begins 27 May 2025)[22]
Seasonal: Astana[19][better source needed]
AirBaltic Riga[23]
Air Cairo Sharm El Sheikh[19][better source needed]
Air China Ürümqi[24]
Air France Paris–Charles de Gaulle[25]
Air Serbia Belgrade (begins 15 June 2025)[26]
AJet Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen[27]
Arkia Tel Aviv
ATA Airlines Tehran–Imam Khomeini
Austrian Airlines Vienna[28]
Azerbaijan Airlines Baku[29]
Azimuth Mineralnye Vody,[30] Moscow–Vnukovo,[31][32] Saint Petersburg,[33] Sochi,[34] Ufa[35]
Belavia Minsk
British Airways London–Heathrow[36][37]
China Southern Airlines Ürümqi[38]
easyJet Geneva,[39] London–Luton,[40] Milan–Malpensa[41]
Edelweiss Air Zürich[42]
Eurowings Berlin,[43][44] Düsseldorf[45][46]
Seasonal: Stuttgart[47][19]
Fly Baghdad Baghdad (suspended)[48]
Flydubai Dubai–International
Flynas Riyadh[19][better source needed]
Seasonal: Dammam, Jeddah
FlyOne Chișinău[49]
FlyOne Armenia Yerevan[19][50]
Georgian Airways Amsterdam,[51] Bergamo,[52][53] Berlin, Bologna,[54] Larnaca,[52] Moscow–Vnukovo,[55] Nice,[56] Novosibirsk,[57] Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Rome–Fiumicino,[54] Saint Petersburg,[58] Tel Aviv,[59] Vienna, Yerevan
Seasonal: Forlì[54]
Seasonal charter: Mahé[60]
Gulf Air Bahrain
IndiGo Delhi
Iran Aseman Airlines Tehran–Imam Khomeini
Israir Tel Aviv[61]
Jazeera Airways Kuwait City
Jordan Aviation Amman–Queen Alia[62]
Korean Air Seasonal charter: Seoul-Incheon (resumes 11 May 2025)[63]
Kuwait Airways Kuwait City
LOT Polish Airlines Warsaw–Chopin
Lufthansa Munich[64]
Pegasus Airlines Ankara, Antalya,[65] Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen,[66] İzmir[19][better source needed]
Qatar Airways Doha[67]
Qeshm Air Tehran–Imam Khomeini
Red Wings Airlines Chelyabinsk,[68] Kazan,[68] Moscow–Zhukovsky,[69] Nizhny Novgorod,[70] Saint Petersburg,[68] Samara,[68] Sochi,[71] Yekaterinburg[68]
SalamAir Seasonal: Muscat
SCAT Airlines Aqtau
Sepehran Airlines Tehran–Imam Khomeini
Sky Express Athens[72]
Sundor Tel Aviv[73]
SunExpress Seasonal: Ankara,[74] Antalya,[74] İzmir[74]
Transavia Amsterdam,[75] Paris–Orly[76]
Turkish Airlines Istanbul[77]
Uzbekistan Airways Tashkent
Varesh Airlines Tehran–Imam Khomeini[78]
Zagros Airlines Tehran–Imam Khomeini
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Cargo

Statistics

More information Annual passenger statistics Tbilisi International Airport, Year ...
Annual passenger statistics Tbilisi International Airport[82]
YearPassengersChange
Annual passenger traffic at TBS airport. See Wikidata query.
2024 4,750,830[83]Increase 25%
2023 3,694,205[84]Increase 23%
2022 2,998,785[85]Increase 78%
2021 1,683,696Increase 185%
2020 590,089Decrease 84.0%
2019 3,692,202Decrease 3.1%
2018 3,808,619Increase 20.4%
2017 3,164,139 Increase 40.5%
2016 2,252,535Increase 22.0%
2015 1,847,111Increase 17.3%
2014 1,575,386Increase 9.7%
2013 1,436,046Increase 17.8%
2012 1,219,175Increase 15.2%
2011 1,058,679Increase 28.7%
2010 822,772Increase 17.1%
2009 702,916Decrease 1.7%
2008 714,976Increase 16.1%
2007 615,873Increase 8.5%
2006 567,402Increase 3.7%
2005 547,150Steady
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More information Country, Destination ...
Top 5 Most Popular Routes [86]
CountryDestinationAirportWeekly flightsAirlines
TurkeyIstanbulIstanbul Airport, Sabiha Gökçen Airport52Turkish Airlines (4 daily), Pegasus Airlines (17 weekly), AnadoluJet (1 daily)
IsraelTel AvivBen Gurion Airport23Georgian Airways (12 weekly), Israir Airlines (5 weekly), El Al (4 weekly), Arkia (2 weekly)
UAEDubaiDubai-International21flydubai (3 daily)
AzerbaijanBakuHeydar Aliyev Airport21Buta Airways (3 daily)
ArmeniaYerevanZvartnots International Airport21Aircompany Armenia (2 daily), FlyOne Armenia (4 weekly), Fly Arna (3 weekly)
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Accidents

On 20 July 1992, a Tupolev Tu-154 cargo plane overran the runway and crashed during a takeoff attempt, killing all 24 occupants and 4 on the ground.[87]

See also

References

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