During the first 9 months of this year airports in Georgia served 3,920,771 passengers in total.
According to the data by the LEPL Civil Aviation Agency under the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, during the first 9 months of this year airports in Georgia served 3,920,771 passengers in total. This is a 22.55% increase compared to the same period last year, and a 79.71% increase compared to 2016.
The Tbilisi International Airport received 2,951,218 passengers, a 20.94% increase (510,897 passengers) compared to the first nine months last year.
In the last months, 513,732 passengers have gone through the Batumi International Airport, which is a 19.94% increase (85,418 passengers) compared to the same period last year.
Passenger traffic in the Kutaisi International Airport increased by 38.73%. In total, 450,417 passengers went through the airport, which is an increase of 125,740 passengers compared to the first nine months of 2017.
During this year, an additional 2,618 flights were taken via Georgian airports. The total number of passenger and freight flights reached 18,837, among which were 16,689 regular flights and 2,148 charter flights. Compared to the number of flights during the same period of the previous year, this year marks an increase of 16.14%.
In Georgia, air transport usage increased by 8.18%. In the first 9 months of 2017, the number of air transportation came to 109,032; however, during the corresponding months of this year, 117,949 flights have been recorded.
As for the percentage share of the airlines operating on the Georgian aviation market, according to the data of the first nine months of this year three aviation companies, Turkish Airlines, Georgian Airways, and Wizz Air, hold equal shares of 11%. The difference in the number of passengers transported by the three aviation companies is rather insignificant.
The top five aviation companies based on the number of passengers transferred by regular and multiple charter flights and their percentage shares are:
1. Airline "Turkish Airlines" - 440,060 passengers 11%;
2. Georgian Airways - 433,805 passengers - 11%;
3. Wizz Air "- 425,991 passengers 11%;
4. Ural Airlines - 219,245 passengers 6%
5. Fly Dubai - 203,073 passengers 5%
Other airlines account for 56% of the total share.
