According to Teona Akubardia, the Deputy Chairwoman of the Defense and Security Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, the construction of a new airport near the Vaziani military base will deal a great blow to the country’s defense capabilities. On October 4, at the meeting of the committee, where the Minister of Defense had been summoned by the Reforms Group regarding this matter, it became clear that this issue was not discussed with the relevant Council of the Ministry of Defense and the decision-making military brass.
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The committee session was closed to the media. ‘’Since the Vaziani military base includes secret facilities and their details cannot be discussed openly, the session should be closed,’’ explained the Chairman of the committee, Irakli Beraia.
According to the information of the Ministry of Defense, Minister Juansher Burchuladze spoke about the prospects of building a new airport near Vaziani military base.
‘’It is too extreme to say that an airport cannot be built here. Members of the Defense Committee heard the position of the Defense Forces. On the contrary, this may be a more promising and better-suited location. So let’s wait for the evaluation. Among the experts that the state will hire will be professionals from different fields who will evaluate the construction of the airport from different angles and reach an informed decision. But there is no significant potential impediment or risk as of today.
The hiring of experts will be the responsibility of the Ministry of Economy. As far as I know, they will be hired in 2024, and the military, environmental, and infrastructural aspects will be evaluated to determine what benefits this project can bring to the urban planning of the city and so on.’’ said Burchuladze.
After the session, MP Teona Akubardia spoke to the media.
‘’The Minister of Defense states that the new civilian airport does not pose a threat to the operation of the Vaziani military base. I asked whether the decision was made within the decision-making council, management group and permanent working groups of the Ministry of Defense of Georgia, as provided for in the defense regulation. The minister answered that no.
I asked whether there was any document on this decision involving the military. The answer was no, which reinforces the assumption that this is Prime Minister’s personal decision and the Minister of Defense is implementing it without saying a word.
To the question - which NATO country has an airport three kilometers away from a military multipurpose base and a military training ground, the minister answered that he once shot from a tank in Hungary near a civil airport, and that the construction of the airport will relieve traffic jams.
There is a NATO-Georgia joint training center near Vaziani, where NATO-Georgia and other international military exercises are held. Prior to the training, the Civil Aviation Agency is notified and Tbilisi Airport traffic is directed accordingly. In 2018, joint renovation of the Vaziani airfield was planned, which was not carried out for reasons unbeknown to me. After the construction of the new airport, the possibility of any military development simply dies. The following will happen - the intensity of training and the multinational composition will gradually decrease, and finally the training ground will have to move from Vazian to Orfolo. Orfolo will increase logistics costs, but it cannot replace the capabilities of Vaziani. As a result, the defense ability will decrease.
This is a heavy blow to the defense capability of the state, and the country should know who is behind this decision, including which military personnel signed off on this,’’ says Akubardia.
Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili stated on June 5 that the government is working on the construction of a modern, international-class airport in Tbilisi, and the former Vaziani airfield is the ideal place for this purpose.
‘’We have a goal to become an aviation hub in the region. We have developed two options. One was the development and expansion of the existing airport, but this airport has its own disadvantages and limitations, and it does not really allow for much development. We raised this issue at the Economic Council, discussed it and came to the conclusion that if we want to set the coutry for 20-30-50 years and even 100 years in advance and leave proper infrastructure and a well-functioning airport to our future generations, it is necessary to select a new location. The former airfield in Vaziani in Tbilisi canbe said to be ideal for this purpose. On my order, the Ministry of Economy has been actively working on this for the past few months.
We observed that in the last few years, we have been having an almost 25% increase in passenger flow every year. This of course, is very good. There are direct flights from Georgian airports to 58 cities of the world and we have regular air traffic with 31 countries of the world. Therefore, we will now initiate a study, bring in the world's leading aviation consulting companies, involve them, conduct a very detailed study and then make a final decision. Tbilisi and the country should have one of the best airports in the world,’’ said Gharibashvili.
According to him, the area of Vaziani is about 900 hectares, and if the building of the new airport is finalized, about 350 hectares will be needed.
