The Georgian government has unveiled plans to construct a new international airport near Tbilisi. During a recent cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced that an abandoned airfield in the nearby town of Vaziani could be repurposed while the construction of a totally new airport is also considered:
An economic council meeting was held where we made a crucial decision to implement a new mega-project. Specifically, a new international airport will be built in Tbilisi. The cost of expanding the current airport would be about $900 million, while constructing a new airport would cost $1.26 billion. The expansion would allow us to increase the passenger flow to a maximum of 15 million, but there would be no further development prospects. On the other hand, constructing a new airport would increase the number of passengers to 19 million with the potential for further expansion.
According to Kobakhidze, the new airport is anticipated to substantially boost the domestic economy, potentially increasing growth by 0.2 percentage points when it is fully operational. In his estimation, the economy will receive an average of around 350 million GEL, equivalent to $129.65 million, over the subsequent several years.
Taking everything into account, we have decided to proceed with the construction of a new airport. The design and tender procedures will be completed next year, and in a few years, the country will have a completely new, state-of-the-art airport. This is the most important decision.
In his statement, Kobakhidze thanked the Ministry of Economy for its efforts in progressing this project. He also claimed that the design and tender processes for the new airport will be finished within the next year.