Kutaisi international airport in Georgia's west is expected to serve more than a million passengers in 2023, Tamar Archuadze, the head of United Airports of Georgia, said on Monday.

Archuadze made the comment at the presentation of a research Tourism - Challenges and Prospects by Galt & Taggart, a Georgian-based investment bank and brokerage service company.

Kutaisi international airport will be closed for two weeks for a planned renovation of its runway. In the current year, its terminal was expanded six times because of increased demand. We think we will serve more than one million passengers next year", Archuadze said.

Between January-August of this year the airport served 534,007 passengers, while the number hit 873,616 travellers, the most since the facility’s opening, in 2019. Six airlines currently operate in 28 directions of 17 countries at the airport.

Archuadze also spoke about the prospects for developing the Georgian aviation market and tourism sector in general, saying the Asian market was the domestic priority at this stage.

"We are quite well represented on the European and Middle Eastern markets, and are already talking about increasing the frequency of flights", she also said.

agenda.ge