In Russia, within the framework of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, a so-called agreement was signed on the restoration of the Vladislav Ardzinba Sokhumi International Airport.
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According to Russian media, the so-called agreement was signed by the de-facto Minister of Economy of occupied Abkhazia, Kristina Ozgan, and the Minister of Economic Development of Russia, Maksim Reshetnikov.
“Reconstruction of Sokhumi airport is a historic event for Abkhazia. The airport has been out of function for 30 years. This fact has been significantly hindering the development of business and tourism in the republic. The new airport will solve two important issues at once for Russia – de-load the two highly congested major entry points for Russians into Abkhazia – Sochi Airport and the Adler checkpoint road passage,” stated Reshetnikov.
According to the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, the restoration works of the airport will be carried out in two stages and funded by a private investor without allocating funds from the federal budget. According to preliminary estimates of the Russian Ministry of Transport, the Federal Air Transport Agency, and a potential investor, the cost of the first stage of reconstruction will make up 6.5 billion rubles.
The first stage will involve the reconstruction of 2.4 kilometers of a 3.6-kilometer runway, which, according to the Deputy Minister of Economic Development, will be enough to accommodate certain types of passenger (SSJ-100, MC-21) and freighter (IL-76) aircraft.
If the project goes to plan, the airport is scheduled to enter service in the fourth quarter of 2024. The Russian side expects yearly traffic of about 1.2 million people.
Sokhumi Airport first opened in the 1960s and is located in the village of Babushara, 18 kilometers from Sokhumi. It closed down in 1993 as a result of the conflict in the region. The airport is not certified by the Georgian Civil Aviation Agency and has not been assigned a four-digit International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) airport code. Consequently, international flights cannot occur there. ICAO recognizes Abkhazia as part of Georgia, and the assignment of the code is only possible through the mediation of an authorized aviation body.
