Baku, Azerbaijan, July 9
By Tamilla Mammadova - Trend:
During the first half of 2019, Georgian airports served 2, 489,823 passengers, Trend reports with reference to the website of the Civil Aviation Agency of Georgia.
In 1Q2018, the passenger traffic increased by 18.24 percent (384,131 passengers) compared to the first quarter of 2017, and in 2Q2018, it increased by 54.59 percent (879,187 passengers) compared to the second quarter of 2017.
Tbilisi International Airport has served 1,870,082 passengers in half a year, which is 11.64 percent more (195,024 passengers)than the number of passengers transferred in the same period of 2018.
In January-June, 247,391 passengers were transported via Batumi International Airport, which is 30.01 percent (57,112 passengers) more than the number of passengers recorded in the first half of 2018.
According to the data of the first six months of 2019, the passenger traffic in Kutaisi International Airport increased by 55.40 percent, from 130,060 passengers in 2018 to 364,834 passengers .
As for local destination airports, Mestia has served 3,477 passengers in six months of the current year, which is 851 passengers more (growth 32.41 percent) than the number of passengers transferred in the same period of 2018. Ambrolauri Airport received 599 passengers this year, which is 187 passengers more (45.38 percent) than the number of passengers served in the first half of last year.
Over the last six months of 2019, more than 1,422 flights were carried out in Georgian airports compared in the first and second quarters of 2018.Total number of passenger and freight flights was 12 096, of which regular number of flights was 10, 726, and 1,370 were charter flights. In comparison with the same period in 2018, the increase was 13.32 percent.
The slight increase was observed in terms of freight transportation. According to the data of the first six months of the current year, air loaded cargo amounted to 11,421.734 tons, which is 216.55 tons more (growth 1.93 percent) than the amount of freight cargo during the same period of the previous year.
According to the European Air Navigation Safety Organization (EUROCONTROL), the number of airplanes in the airports of Georgia in the second quarter increased by 8.1 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. The number of domestic flights increased by 12 percent. The number of migratory air traffic flows in Georgia's airspace decreased by 11 percent, due to the Pakistani-India conflict, the closure of Pakistan's airspace and the influx of air traffic flows from Asia bypassing Georgia's airspace.
During the period of 2019, the following airlines have entered the Georgian aviation market: "AIR FRANCE"; "Air Malta"; "SmartLynx Airlines" (charter flights) and "Onurair" (charter flights).