Alexander Kartveli Batumi International Airport (IATA: BUS, ICAO: UGSB) is an airport located 2 km (1.2 mi) south of Batumi, a city on the Black Sea coast and capital of Adjara, an autonomous republic in southwest Georgia. The airport is 20 km (12 mi) northeast of Hopa, Turkey, and serves as a domestic and international airport for Georgia. The airport is named after Alexander Kartveli, an aeronautical engineer and aviation pioneer.[3]
Alexander Kartveli Batumi International Airport ბათუმის ალექსანდრე ქართველის სახელობის საერთაშორისო აეროპორტი | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Operator | TAV Airports Holding | ||||||||||
| Serves |  Batumi, Georgia | ||||||||||
| Location | Batumi, Georgia | ||||||||||
| Focus city for | Georgian Airways | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 37 ft / 11 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 41°36′37″N 41°35′58″E / 41.61028°N 41.59944°E | ||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  BUS Location of Batumi Airport  BUS BUS (Turkey)  BUS BUS (Black Sea) | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2023) | |||||||||||
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Overview
editBatumi is one of three international airports in operation in Georgia (along with Tbilisi International Airport serving the Georgian capital and David the Builder International Airport in Georgia's second largest city Kutaisi). The new airport terminal has been in operation since 26 May 2007. With a total area of 4,256 square metres (45,810 sq ft), it is capable of handling 600,000 passengers a year.[4]
On October 25, 2000 when landing at the airport Il-18 aircraft tail number RA-74295 crashed. It was transporting “under the flag” of the 223rd Flight Detachment in joint operation with Aeroflot personnel of the Russian 12th Military Base in Transcaucasia. All 84 people (73 passengers and 11 crew members) on board were killed. The cause of the disaster was the navigation error of the pilots and the lack of control on the part of air traffic control services.[5]
Batumi International Airport has noted a significant growth in the number of passengers since its renovation in 2007. In 2011, the airport handled 134,000 passengers, an increase of 51% over the previous year.[4]
In 2019, the terminal was expanded because the existing capacities were no longer sufficient. The work was completed in spring 2021.The airport's area was doubled to 8000 square meters, which allows the handling of 1,200,000 passengers a year.Part of the work was to expand the number of bus gates, the check-in area, and passport control counters as well as the expansion of duty-free areas and the car park.Additionally, the luggage handling area was partially expanded, where an automatic conveyor system was introduced and an additional one luggage carousel was installed.A total of USD$17 million were invested.
Airlines and destinations
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Statistics
edit| Annual passenger statistics Batumi International Airport[27] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Passengers | Change |
Annual passenger traffic at BUS airport.See Wikidata query. | |
| 2023 | 621,514 |  0.75% | ||
| 2022 | 616,885[28] | 19.5% | ||
| 2021 | 516,017 | 906% | ||
| 2020 | 51,412 |  91.8% | ||
| 2019 | 624,178 | 4.2% | ||
| 2018 | 598,891 | 20.8% | ||
| 2017 | 495,668 | 58.7% | ||
| 2016 | 312,343 | 37.9% | ||
| 2015 | 226,476 | 5.9% | ||
| 2014 | 213,439 | 2.2% | ||
| 2013 | 208,977 | 24.0% | ||
| 2012 | 168,510 | 25.9% | ||
| 2011 | 133,852 | 51.1% | ||
| 2010 | 88,562 | 92.3% | ||
| 2009 | 46,044 | 28.8% | ||
| 2008 | 64,656 | 67.4% | ||
Most popular routes in summer 2021
edit| Country | Destination | Airport | Weekly flights[29] | Airlines |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ukraine | Kyiv | Boryspil International Airport, | 21 | Bees Airline (7 weekly) SkyUp (7 weekly) Yanair (7 weekly) |
 Israel | Tel Aviv | Ben Gurion Airport | 15 | Israir Airlines (10 weekly); Arkia (3 weekly); El Al/Sun d'Or (2 weekly) Georgian Airways (2 weekly) |
 Turkey | Istanbul | Istanbul Airport, | 10 | Turkish Airlines (7 weekly) Pegasus Airlines (3 weekly) |
 Belarus | Minsk | Minsk National Airport | 4 | Belavia (4 weekly) |
 Saudi Arabia | Riyadh | King Khalid International Airport | 4 | Flynas (4 weekly) |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ DoD Flight Information Publication (Terminal) - High and Low Altitude Eastern Europe and Asia. St. Louis, Missouri: National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 2020.
- ^ "EAD Basic". European AIS Database. EUROCONTROL. Archived from the original on 2 November 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
- ^ Batumi airport named after Alexander Kartveli Government of Georgia
- ^ a b "Batumi Airport" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 December 2020.
- ^ "Il disaster-18D near Batumi". Archived from the original on 14 March 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
- ^ "Air Arabia".
- ^ a b "Uzbekistan Airways makes inaugural direct Tashkent-Batumi flight". Agenda.ge. 22 May 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
- ^ "AirBaltic annuncia voli per Batumi". 16 February 2022.
- ^ Arkia.com
- ^ "Armenian Airlines будет совершать рейсы между Ереваном и Батуми". Travel.ru (in Russian). 5 March 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
- ^ "Buta Airways August – October 2023 Network – 30JUL23". AeroRoutes. 1 August 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
- ^ "Azimuth Adds Moscow – Georgia Routes in NW23". AeroRoutes. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- ^ "Centrum Air". www.centrum-air.com. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
- ^ Liu, Jim (10 January 2020). "flydubai resumes Batumi service in S20". routesonline.com.
- ^ Liu, Jim. "flynas S20 Network Expansion". Routesonline. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
- ^ a b "Getjet and Smartlynx to Resume Flights to Georgia". Georgian Journal. 8 August 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
- ^ "Israir NS24 Leased Smartwings Boeing 737 Operations". AeroRoutes. 21 March 2024. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
- ^ Liu, Jim. "Pegasus adds Istanbul – Batumi service from late-March 2020". Routesonline. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
- ^ "Авиакомпания Red Wings открывает рейсы из Москвы в Батуми". www.aviapages.ru. 24 October 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
- ^ "Red Wings Adds St. Petersburg – Batumi From June 2024". AeroRoutes. 1 May 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
- ^ Романов, Дмитрий (31 May 2024). "Прямые авиарейсы между Самарой и Батуми впервые запустят с 16 июня". www.samru.ru. Сетевое издание "Сайт Самары СамРУ.ру". Retrieved 31 May 2024.
- ^ Bakhshieva, Galina (11 June 2024). "Direct flights to Batumi open from Ufa". eng.bashinform.ru (in Russian). BashInform. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
- ^ "Red Wings полетит из Екатеринбурга в Батуми". Travel.ru (in Russian). 1 May 2024. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
- ^ "SCAT Airlines to launch Astana-Batumi service from Jun-2024". CAPA News Briefs. 9 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
- ^ "Flights to Mestia, Ambrolauri, and Batumi - Schedule and Prices". Mountain Stories. 13 January 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
- ^ "Frequency on domestic flights increases in Georgia". Agenda.ge. 19 July 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
- ^ "Number of Passengers Served Batumi Airport". gcaa.ge. Civil Aviation Agency of Georgia. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
- ^ "According to total data for 2022, the number of flights recovered to the level of 88% from pre-Covid levels, whereas passenger count - to the level of 85% (in Georgian)". Georgian Civil Aviation Authority. 16 January 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
- ^ "International passenger flights from Batumi Airport". Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
