Minister of Economy announces construction of railway station near Kutaisi Airport
By Nika Gamtsemlidze
Friday, February 7
According to the project, the railway station about 1.5 kilometers from the airport will be restored, with special shuttles to the airport. The highway connecting the airport and the railway station will also be rehabilitated.
“The new terminal is under construction and will be operational in just a few years, and it was very important for us to support these projects,” said Turnava.
The Kutaisi Airport Railway Station was supposed to open in 2017. Former Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili announced two years ago that the construction of a 3-kilometer-long railway and a station connecting Kutaisi airport had already begun.
According to the Georgian government at the time, all new trains traveling from East to West, including the Kutaisi International Airport, would stop a few steps from the terminal via the new railway.
On April 3, 2017, Giorgi Kvirikashvili even included a time slot at Kutaisi International Airport, which indicated the number of days remaining before the construction of the new railway station.
In July 2019, the Deputy Minister of Economy announced that the new station would no longer be built and that the government would rehabilitate the old one, situated two kilometers away from the airport.
In early 2019, Deputy Minister of Economy Akaki Saginashvili said that the report on the construction of the railway at Kutaisi Airport needs to be revised. He was talking about three scenarios.
“This conclusion needs to be updated because after that conclusion many flights were added to Kutaisi Airport. There are 3 scenarios we could discuss: 1. Rehabilitation of the existing station in Kopitnari, which is 2 Km away from the airport. 2. 700 meters from the terminal we can create a platform, where the current railway is. We could create a walking way or another connection. 3. We could also create a platform near the Airport, it's all in the process of being studied and I hope we'll have an answer in a month,” said the deputy minister at the time.
Kutaisi International Airport is fully operated by United Airports of Georgia. The airport was rebuilt in 2012 and is the first international airport in the region, offering cost-efficient airline services. The airport is equipped with the highest quality navigation and weather systems have 2,500 m runway and can simultaneously serve up to 600 passengers, receive 2 and depart 3 flights.