Tbilisi Airport

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Tbilisi Airport
თბილისის აეროპორტი
Tbilisi airport 1.jpg
IATA: TBSICAO: UGTB
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner United Airports of Georgia LLC
Operator TAV Airports Holding
Serves Tbilisi
Location Tbilisi, Georgia
Hub for Fly Georgia

Georgian Airways

Elevation AMSL 1,624 ft / 495 m
Coordinates 41°40′09″N 044°57′17″E / 41.66917°N 44.95472°E / 41.66917; 44.95472Coordinates: 41°40′09″N 044°57′17″E / 41.66917°N 44.95472°E / 41.66917; 44.95472
Website www.tbilisiairport.com
Map
TBS is located in Georgia (country)
TBS
Location within Georgia
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
13R/31L 3,000 9,843 Concrete
13L/31R 2,500 8,202 Asphalt/Concrete
Helipads
Number Length Surface
m ft
H1 30 98 Asphalt/Concrete
Source: Georgian AIP at EUROCONTROL[1]

Tbilisi Airport (Georgian: თბილისის აეროპორტი) (IATA: TBSICAO: UGTB) formerly Novo Alexeyevka International Airport, is the main international airport in Georgia, located 17 km (11 mi) southeast[1] of the capital Tbilisi.

Contents

Overview [edit]

February 2007 saw the completion of a 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. A rail link to the city centre has been constructed, with an infrequent rail service of 6 trains per day each way. George W. Bush Avenue leads from the airport to downtown Tbilisi.[2]

The airport has a contemporary and functional design. It is designed to provide the optimum flow of both passengers and luggage from the parking lot to the planes, with a 25,000 square meter total usable area. There is scope for future expansions without interrupting terminal operations. It has high-tech contemporary systems, keeping passenger convenience and efficiency of the terminal operations in mind, throughout functional spaces organized in an elegant manner. The food and beverage operations are carried out by BTA at 7 points with a staff of 75, while ATU provides Duty Free services at its four stores.[3]

The implementing agency and the borrower for the project is TAV Urban Georgia, a concessionaire and special purpose vehicle for the construction and operation of the airport.

The total project cost was 90.5 million USD. The capacity of the new terminal building is 2.8 million passengers per year.[4]

Statistics [edit]

In 2007, the airport handled 615,873 passengers, representing an increase of 8.5% over 2006.[5] The number of aircraft movements increased by 18.7%.[6] In 2009, the airport handled 702,916 passengers and 12,245 tonnes of cargo, in 2010 it handled 822,772 passengers.[7]

Annual passenger statistics for Tbilisi International Airport [7]
Year Total passengers
2007
615,873
2008
714,976
2009
702,916
2010
822,772
2011
1,058,679[8]
2012
1,219,175 [9]

Many international airlines now operate from Tbilisi, connecting it with major European and Asian destinations. This also allows passengers flying to or departing from Georgia to benefit from the choice of additional destinations offered by the large European transit airlines who serve Tbilisi from their hubs.

Negotiations are being held with French and German companies in order to rehabilitate the old runway 13L/31R. The rehabilitation will enable the airport to have two operational runways.[citation needed]

A Turkish operator of the Tbilisi International Airport said it would invest USD 65 million in reconstruction of now unused runaway and in exchange get an extension for the airport’s operation till late 2037.

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 the unused runaway, one of the two runaways at the Tbilisi airport.

“The operational rights of TAV Urban Georgia have been extended for 10 years 9 months from February 2027 to November 8, 2037 within the scope of the agreement of Built-Operate-Transfer in exchange for the reconstruction investment,” TAV Airports Holding said in a statement on August 24.

“It has been planned to get the investment on reconstruction of the runway started in September 2012 and complete the project in less than 2 years,” the company said.

Tbilisi International Airport is operated by TAV since October, 2005. In Georgia the company also operates airport in Batumi for 20-year term starting from May, 2007.[10]

History [edit]

Departure hall
Aircraft on stand at Tbilisi International
Ground floor arrivals and check-in
Third Floor used for departures
Passport control
The airport's former main terminal complex

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 risalit in the form of a portico. The two side wings featured blind arcades in giant order. A new terminal building was finished in 1990, designed in the International style.[11] In 1981 Tbilisi airport was the 12th largest airport in the Soviet Union, with 1,478,000 passengers on so-called central lines, that is on flights connecting Tbilisi with cities in other Soviet Union republics.[12] In 1998 the number of passenger had shrunk to 230,000 per year.[13]

Airlines and destinations [edit]

Tbilisi airport mainly serves destinations in CIS, Europe and Middle East. The Georgian government is negotiating with several airlines in the hope to increase the number of destinations. These airlines include Wizz Air,[14] Ryanair[15] and Air France.

Airlines Destinations
Aegean Airlines Athens[16]
airBaltic Riga
Air Astana Almaty[17]
Air Onix Simferopol (begins 3 June 2013)[18]
Alitalia Rome-Fiumicino
Arkia Israel Airlines Seasonal: Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion
Ata Airlines Tehran-Imam Khomeini
Azerbaijan Airlines Baku
Belavia Minsk-National
China Southern Airlines Ürümqi
Czech Airlines Prague[19][20]
flydubai Dubai[21]
FlyGeorgia Brussels (begins 3 June 2013),[22] Cairo,[23] Dubai,[24] Düsseldorf,[25] Erbil,[26] Kiev-Boryspil,[27] Tehran-Imam Khomeini,[28] Sharm al-Sheikh[29]
Georgian Airways Amsterdam, Batumi, Erbil,[30] Kiev-Zhuliany,[31] Moscow-Vnukovo,[32] Sharm el-Sheikh, Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion, Vienna
Seasonal: Kharkiv,[33] Paris-Charles de Gaulle[33]
Israir Airlines Seasonal: Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion (begins 14 May 2013)[34][35]
LOT Polish Airlines Warsaw-Chopin
Lufthansa Munich
Pegasus Airlines Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen[36]
Qatar Airways Baku, Doha
S7 Airlines Moscow-Domodedovo
SCAT Aktau
Turkish Airlines Istanbul-Atatürk, Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen
Ukraine International Airlines Kiev-Boryspil
Ural Airlines Yekaterinburg
UTair Ukraine Donetsk,[37] Kiev-Zhuliany,[38] Odessa[39]

Cargo airlines [edit]

Airlines Destinations
British Airways World Cargo Dubai, Shanghai-Pudong
Cargolux Baku, Chongqing, Kuala Lumpur, Luxembourg, Singapore
Coyne Airways Aktau, Ashgabat, Atyrau, Baku,Cologne/Bonn, London-Stansted, Turkmenbashi, Uralsk, Yerevan
Silk Way Airlines Baku
Turkish Airlines Cargo Istanbul-Atatürk

Statistics [edit]

Busiest routes at Tbilisi International Airport (by number of flights weekly)
Rank City Airport Airlines
1 Turkey Istanbul Atatürk Airport, Sabiha Gökçen Airport Pegasus, Turkish Airlines
2 Ukraine Kiev Boryspil Airport, Zhuliany Airport FlyGeorgia, Georgian Airways, Ukraine International Airlines, UTair-Ukraine
3 Russia Moscow Domodedovo Airport, Vnukovo Airport Georgian Airways, S7 Airlines
4 Azerbaijan Baku Heydar Aliyev Airport Azerbaijan Airlines, Qatar Airways
5 Israel Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport Arkia, Georgian Airways
6 Germany Munich Franz Josef Strauss Airport Lufthansa
7 Belarus Minsk National Airport Belavia
8 Qatar Doha Doha Airport Qatar Airways
9 Iran Tehran Imam Khomeini Airport Ata Airlines, FlyGeorgia
10 Georgia (country) Batumi Batumi Airport FlyGeorgia, Georgian Airways
11 United Arab Emirates Dubai Dubai Airport flydubai, FlyGeorgia

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b EAD Basic
  2. ^ "Tbilisi Officials Name Street After Bush". Associated Press. 14 September 2005. 
  3. ^ Tbilisi Airport Terminal Information
  4. ^ tbilisiairport.com - Terminal features
  5. ^ ACI Europe Ranking of European Airports for 2007
  6. ^ Tbilisi Airport passenger and aircraft movement increases for 2007
  7. ^ a b Tbilisi Airport - Airport Statistics
  8. ^ tbilisiairport.com - Tbilisi Airport Profile (p.15)
  9. ^ Georgian Civil Aviation Agency - Number of Passengers Served
  10. ^ [1]
  11. ^ Baulig, Josef; Maia Mania, Hans Mildenberg and Karl Ziegler. Architekturführer Tbilisi (in German and Georgian). Landeshauptstadt Saarbrücke n/Technische Universität Kaiserslautern. p. 70. ISBN 3-936890-39-0. 
  12. ^ Sagers, Matthew; Thomas Maraffa (July 1990). "Soviet Air-Passenger Transportation Network". Geographical Review (American Geographical Society) 80 (3): 269. 
  13. ^ Global transport (13–15). Stroudgate: Chartered Institute of Transport in the UK. 1998. p. 97. 
  14. ^ http://www.trans-port.com.ua/index.php?newsid=23700
  15. ^ http://www.geotimes.ge/index.php?m=home&newsid=22608
  16. ^ Mariam, Papidze (14 May 2012). "Aegean Airlines Entering Georgia". The FINANCIAL. Retrieved 22 May 2012. 
  17. ^ "Route Map". Air Astana. Retrieved 22 February 2013. 
  18. ^ "Air Onix launches new direct service between Simferopol and Tbilisi". Latest news. Airlines «AirOnix». Retrieved 19 April 2013. 
  19. ^ "Destinations". Czech Airlines. 
  20. ^ "The Management Of Czech Airlines Changed Their Mind To Cancel Tbilisi Service". TAV Airports Gerogia. Retrieved 22 May 2012. 
  21. ^ "Flydubai launches Tbilisi flights". 
  22. ^ L, J (13 May 2013). "FlyGeorgia Postpones Brussels Service Launch till June 2013". Routesonline / Routes. Retrieved 14 May 2013. 
  23. ^ "Timetables". FlyGeorgia. Retrieved 10 April 2013. 
  24. ^ flygeorgia.com - Dubai
  25. ^ L, J (20 March 2013). "FlyGeorgia to Start Kiev and Dusseldorf Service from April 2013". Routesonline / Route. Retrieved 20 March 2013. 
  26. ^ flygeorgia.com - Erbil
  27. ^ "FlyGeorgia с 1 апреля будет летать из Тбилиси в Киев". avianews.com by Aviation Today. 11 March 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2013. 
  28. ^ flygeorgia.com - Tehran
  29. ^ flygeorgia.com - Sharm El Sheikh
  30. ^ ""Georgian Airways" introduces NEW DESTINATION!". Georgian Airways. Retrieved 19 March 2013. 
  31. ^ "News from Airzena". Georgian Airways. Retrieved 21 December 2012. 
  32. ^ "News from Airzena!". Georgian Airways. Retrieved 2012-03-28. 
  33. ^ a b "Schedule for Summer Season". Schedule. Georgian Airways. Retrieved 29 March 2013. 
  34. ^ http://www.tnet.org.il/sitefiles/1/2444/73287.asp
  35. ^ "Авиакомпания «IsrAir Airlines» будет летать в Грузию". Информационно-аналитический портал Грузия Online. 27 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 
  36. ^ "Scheduled Flight Search". Pegasus Airlines. Retrieved 29 May 2012. 
  37. ^ "Flights". UTair-Ukraine. Retrieved 11 July 2012. 
  38. ^ "International flights "UTair-Ukraine Airlines" 28 October 2012 - 30 March 2013 2013". Flights "UTair-Ukraine Airlines" 28 October 2012 - 30 March 2013. Utair-Ukraine. Retrieved 14 January 2013. 
  39. ^ "UTair-Ukraine Airlines opens a new flight from Odessa to Tbilisi.". News. UTair-Ukraine Airlines. Retrieved 19 October 2012. 

External links [edit]