Discussing airport development with Dimitri Kumshishvili, Deputy Minister for Economy.
The Director General of ACI EUROPE, Olivier Jankovec, visited Georgia in September at the special invitation of the United Airports of Georgia (UAG) – the owner of all Georgia’s four airports, which became a member of ACI EUROPE exactly one year ago.
All UAG airports have been modernised over the past decade:
• Tbilisi International Airport’s new terminal opened in February of 2007. The airport is operated by TAV Airports.
• Batumi International Airport started operation with new facilities in May of 2007. The airport is also operated by TAV Airports.
• Mestia Airport (Queen Tamar Airport) was officially opened in December 2010 to support the mountainous regions of Georgia and especially facilitate tourist development. The airport is directly operated by UAG.
• Kutaisi David The Builder International Airport was opened in September, 2012 as “the first low cost airport in the region.” Kutaisi Airport is also directly operated by UAG.
Jankovec met with representatives of the Civil Aviation Administration and Georgia’s Air Navigation Services, the Deputy Minister for Economy Dimitri Kumshishvili, as well as TAV Georgia’s General Manager, Mete Erkal. Discussions focused on the state of the industry, market developments, and a range of regulatory and policy issues regarding airport development in Georgia. The resulting press conference generated significant national press and TV coverage.
With TAV Georgia’s General Manager, Mete Erkal – TAV Airports operates UAG’s Tbilisi and Batumi airports under concession.
“Membership of ACI EUROPE is of a great importance for UAG and its staff, as it gives us a unique opportunity to get connected to more than 450 airports from 45 countries and access best practice experience which will support the further development of the emerging airport market in our young country.” said Kate Aleksidze, CEO of UAG Airports. “Mr Jankovec’s visit to Tbilisi, underlines the importance of our relationship with ACI. During our meeting, we agreed UAG will be more actively involved in the work of ACI EUROPE in the future and partnership between us will strengthen.”
