Ambrolauri Airport is 9 years old

Ambrolauri local airport has turned 9 years old. Before the start of direct flights, minibuses were moving from Tbilisi to Racha. The distance is 270 kilometers and it took about 4 hours to cover it. After the construction of the airport, the journey time from Natakhtri to Ambrolauri was reduced to 35 minutes. Consequently, Racha has become much more accessible to both local and foreign visitors.

From 2017 until now, Ambrolauri Airport served 16,481 passengers and 1,060 flights. According to Levan Moseshvili, General Director of the Union of Georgian Airports, the existence of Ambrolauri Airport is particularly important for Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti and for the development of the local tourism sector, as the airport has created new opportunities for the population of the region.

"The operation of the airport of local importance has significantly increased the economic activity in Racha. New hotels and guesthouses have appeared, additions have been created t jobs, which contributed to the development of tourism in the region. At this stage, only our company employs 20 people at the airport. I would like to congratulate each of them on the 9th anniversary of Ambrolauri Airport and thank them for their work. In the future, we hope that air traffic will become much more active at our airport", said Levan Moseshvili.

Ambrolauri airport was built in an unprecedentedly short time. The construction started in September 2016 and the first flight took place in January 2017. At this stage, the airport serves small aircrafts - 15 seats. In the future, the possibility of receiving larger aircrafts and the expansion of the terminal in case of an increase in passenger flow are envisaged.

The length of the runway is 1100 meters, and the area of the airport terminal is 600 square meters and it is designed to handle about 50 passengers at a time.

The architectural project of the terminal was designed by Manuchar Makhatadze, and the airport inter The design of the look belongs to the architect-designer of the Union of Airports, Mariam Karkarashvili.