The President of Georgia opened the runway at the David the Builder Kutaisi International Airport. Mikheil Saakashvili personally piloted the Cessna type aircraft, which landed at the newly opened runway. Mikheil Saakashvili addressed the gathered audience while focusing attention on the importance of the airport. According to the Head of State, the most important thing is for each citizen of Georgia to be able to afford the services of this airport. The President thanked the organizers of the project and workers for their relentless efforts.

“The Kutaisi Airport has an advantage, and that advantage is the fact that an aircraft can land here from in any direction. For example, the Batumi Airport does not have this advantage because you can land there from only one side. The rest of the sides are restricted by wind or mountains. Additionally, there is almost never fog in Kutaisi. Even if the Tbilisi and Batumi airports close because of weather conditions; this airport will work all year round. This is why the Kutaisi airport has more importance than merely serving the region. The Poti and Meria airports will be added to the list in the future. This is not only an airport of Kutaisi. This is the airport of Samtredia, Bagdati, Tskaltubo, Khoni, Vani and in a nutshell, it covers the entire region and additionally, this is also an airport of Mestia because we are going to have a tunnel connecting Kutaisi and Mestia. Also, this place will be connected to the Tbilisi freeway which passes 2 kilometers from here. On one hand, there is an airport here and on the other we have the Tbilisi freeway the pavement of which is practically finished. This completely changes the economic geography of the region as well as distances and gives this place a new meaning” – noted Mikheil Saakashvili.

At this point there are 400 persons employed at the construction and 200 persons will gain permanent jobs once the airport building becomes functional.

The first world class Boeing airplane has already landed at the Kutaisi International Airport. The runway has a length of 2,600 meters and it fully complies with modern standards. The Kutaisi International Airport will open at the end of September, and it will have domestic as well as international flights.

The priority of the Kutaisi airport is to attract low tariff airlines and create a special environment between airlines and airports. It will be the most high standard and low tariff airport in the Caucasus region. It will be equipped with the highest quality navigation and weather systems.