Georgia’s Kutaisi Airport Plans Major Extension as Tourism Numbers Grow

(KUTAISI, Georgia) -- Kutaisi International Airport, western Georgia’s main transport hub, has drawn up plans to extensively expand the existing terminal’s services to better accommodate the growing number of passengers.

Dutch firm UNStudio, which built the new terminal in 2013, will lead the project, the company has already unveiled plans for an extension that includes an eco-themed rooftop plaza with views to the nearby Caucasus Mountains.

"Georgia is quickly becoming a tourist hotspot in the region...Kutaisi is one of the main points of entry for visitors," said UNStudio.

The existing airport terminal – distinguished by a web of umbrella-like wooden beams that extend down from the ceiling into a glass-lined external courtyard – will become the departure hall.

A new central passenger’s hall will mimic the umbrella-like ceiling structure that will also include an expanded food court on the second floor.

Low-cost-airlines use Kutaisi Airport as an affordable alternative to Tbilisi – 185 kilometers to the east. The number of passengers passing through the airport spiked from only 12,900 in 2012 to more than 300,000 in 2016 after the dilapidated Soviet-era terminal was replaced.

Local officials estimate that the number of annual passengers using the airport will reach 1,000,000 by 2020. (Agenda.ge)