Georgia’s passenger traffic grew 13% in 2015

Photo by James Emery / Wikipedia

Georgian airports served almost 2.3 million passengers in 2015, or 12.6% more than in 2014 (just over 2 million), according to the country’s Civil Aviation Agency (GCAA). The total number of passenger and cargo flights increased by 4.5%. Out of the total number, there were 11,400 regular flights and 2,300 charter flights.

The frequency of Georgian airspace overflights grew 6.6% to just under 123,400.

About 1.8 million travelers used Tbilisi airport, Georgia’s main air gateway, translating to a growth of 17.3% year-on-year. The country’s second largest airport, Batumi, saw its traffic grow 5.9% to 226,500 passengers, despite the 15.9% plunge in the first half of the year. Skyrocketing growth was reported by Queen Tamar Airport in the town of Mestia: 4,465 passengers against 1,343 in 2014 (+232.5%). At the same time, Kutaisi’s King David the Builder International Airport only served 183,000 passengers, or 16% down year-on-year. The Georgian aviation authority explains the decline by the fact that Wizz Air Ukraine left the market in April, leading to a temporary loss of services between Georgia and Ukraine.

The overall increase in Georgian passenger traffic had been anticipated, GCAA Director Guram Jalaghonia told Russian Aviation Insider earlier. The volume of cargo traffic had been expected to stay level, but in the first seven months of 2015 it decreased by 11% to 8,290 tons.

“Speaking of the Georgian carriers’ share of the country’s market, it stood at 12% in 2014 and at 10% in the first seven months of 2015,” Jalaghonia commented.