BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 22
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
Passenger traffic of Georgian Airports was 84 percent down in 2020, compared to 2019, and thus equaling the statistics of 2010, Trend reports via the Civil Aviation Agency of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia.
According to the statistics, Georgian airports served a total of 833,846 passengers with regular and irregular flights in 2020. While in 2019, the airports served 5,209,466 passengers, so the decrease amounted to 83.99 percent.
In recent years, the Georgian air market has been attractive for the airlines, as it has been named one of the best tourist destinations, and consequently, the country has seen a significant increase in foreign tourists. Georgia was also attractive due to its liberal aviation policy.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on preventing the spread of the virus have reduced the passenger traffic to Georgia, as the country was forced to close its airspace for regular flights on March 21, 2020. The forced shutdown lasted several months amid the spread of the virus.
The COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on preventing the spread of the virus have reduced the passenger traffic to Georgia, as the country was forced to close its airspace for regular flights on March 21, 2020. The forced shutdown lasted several months amid the spread of the virus. Starting of regular flights is carried out in stages and obviously the passenger flow is also decreased.
In 2020, Tbilisi International Airport served 590,123 passengers, which is 84.02 percent less compared to 2019 (3.69 million passengers).
In 2020, Kutaisi International Airport served 183,873 passengers, while in 2019 - 873,616 passengers.
Some 51,412 passengers were transferred through Batumi International Airport, which is 91.76 percent less than the passenger flow carried by the airport in 2019. In 2019, Batumi International Airport served 624,151 passengers.
As for the local airports, Mestia served 3,165 passengers last year, which is 5,460 passengers or 63.30 percent less comparing to the number of passengers transported in the same period of 2019.
Ambrolauri Airport received 1,214 passengers in the past twelve months, which is 752 passengers less (38.25 percent) than the number of passengers served in the same period of 2019.
A total of 7,133 flights were operated at Georgian airports in 2020.
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