Sokhumi Wants to Open Airport in 2025

On September 16, Teimuraz Khishba, responsible for the tourism portfolio in the occupied province’s executive, said the Sokhumi International Airport will open in 2025. He announced the plans for the airport during his speech at the First International Tourism Forum, “Strategy of Sustainable Tourism Development in an Unstable World,” held in Kazakhstan.

The airport was expected to receive the first flights in January 2024. On July 26, the legislature ratified the investment agreement aiming to restore Sokhumi Airport. In September, the executive said it was accepting applications from Russian investors for the reconstruction. The deal became controversial in Abkhaz society when it turned out that the contractor was to be granted unprecedented tax privileges.  

Sokhumi Airport is located 18 kilometers from the city. It was built in the 1960s, and until its closure following armed hostilities in 1993, it could receive up to five thousand passengers a day in high season.

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