Abkhazia Announces Plans to Reopen Sukhumi Airport in 2024
Sukhumi Airport will be opened in 2024. The flights above 6000 altitudes will be controlled by the Russians from the Rostov-on-Don dispatch center.
The de facto president of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, announced the opening of the Sukhumi airport by 2024. Bzhania stated this during his stay in Bashkir.
According to him, "an investor connected with Russian capital and investments has already been found for the launch of the Sukhumi airport."
According to the director of the airport, Vyacheslav Eshba, "research work is underway and designers are examining the old runway surface to see if it can be used in the initial stage without major repairs. The airport has a long runway of 3640 meters, two main runways and five turning runways.
Together with the Ministry of Transport of the Federation and the Federal Air Transport Agency, the Abkhazians are also working on an action plan for the preparation of specialists. This will affect the entire flight maintenance staff and the pilots directly. The Abkhazians have already handed over the list of training candidates to the Russian side.
According to the decision of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the airport located 18 km from Sukhumi, in the village of Babushara, Gulrifshi district, is no longer operational after the end of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict.
During the Soviet period, the airport served up to 5,000 passengers a day in the summer, and up to 1,000 in the winter. The length of the runway of Sukhumi Airport is 3.6 km, which makes it possible to receive almost all types of civil aircraft from both the mountains and the sea.
Source: BPN.ge