# Kutaisi International Airport

Kutaisi International Airport (IATA: KUT, ICAO: UGKO), also known as David the Builder Kutaisi International Airport, is an airport located 14 km (8.7 mi) west of Kutaisi, the third largest city in the country of Georgia and capital of the western region of Imereti. It is the second busiest airport in Georgia with 1,7 million passengers passing through it in 2024, a 3% increase compared with the previous year. The airport is operated by United Airports of Georgia, a state-owned company.

## History

The airport was closed for renovation in November 2011. Its reopening ceremony was held on 27 September 2012. The ceremony was attended by President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán and Wizz Air CEO József Váradi.
To prepare for the commissioning of the airport and training of staff, the French company Vinci Airports was contracted. There is one duty-free shop and two coffee shops operating at the airport. The airport is currently connected to scheduled buses operated by Georgian Bus and Omnibus Express, with services to Kutaisi, Tbilisi and Batumi after each arrival. The airport terminal is located next to the main road between Kutaisi and Batumi, so it is also possible to transfer to those cities by marshrutka.
The priority of Kutaisi airport is to attract low-cost airlines. A significant growth in the number of passengers was noted soon after the reopening of the airport in 2012, mainly due to Wizz Air's operations linking Kutaisi with European airports. The airport reported 187,939 passengers in 2013, In February 2016, Wizz Air announced a new base at Kutaisi Airport and was planning to add a second base in 2018.
A plan to build a railway station 2 kilometres from the airport to connect the airport to Tbilisi, Batumi and any other cities of Georgia served by Georgian Railways was announced in 2018. In April 2022, the modernization of the Kopitnari station was finished. Currently, Tbilisi-Batumi trains stop at the Kopitnari station as well.

## Airlines and destinations

| Airlines | Destinations |
| Azimuth | Moscow–Vnukovo |
| Belavia | Minsk |
| FlyArystan | Almaty, Aqtau, Astana, Atyrau, Şymkent |
| Pegasus Airlines | Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen |
| Smartwings | Seasonal charter: Warsaw–Chopin (begins 27 April 2025) |
| Vanilla Sky Airlines | Mestia |
| Wizz Air | Abu Dhabi, Athens, Barcelona, Beauvais, Berlin, Budapest, Charleroi, Dortmund, Hahn, Hamburg (resumes 15 April 2025), Katowice, Kraków, Larnaca, Lyon (begins 3 June 2025), Madrid (resumes 28 April 2025), Memmingen, Milan–Malpensa, Poznań, Prague, Riga (ends 31 May 2025), Rome–Ciampino, Thessaloniki, Vienna, Vilnius, Warsaw–Chopin, Wrocław Seasonal: Tallinn |

## Statistics
### Passenger figures

Annual passenger statistics Kutaisi International Airport :
| Year | Passengers | Change |
| 2024 | 1,722,809 | 0003% |
| 2023 | 1,671,198 | 0110% |
| 2022 | 00796,063 | 0282% |
| 2021 | 282,514 | 0154% |
| 2020 | 183,873 | 0079% |
| 2019 | 873,616 | 0042% |
| 2018 | 617,373 | 0052% |
| 2017 | 405,173 | 0049% |
| 2016 | 271,363 | 0048% |
| 2015 | 182,954 | 0016% |
| 2014 | 218,003 | 0016% |
| 2013 | 187,939 | 1,353% |
| 2012 | 012,932 | 0186% |
| 2011 | 004,527 | 0040% |
| 2010 | 007,446 | |

### Busiest routes

Top 5 scheduled destinations (2019) :
| Rank | Airport | Country | Passengers | Carriers |
| 1 | Warsaw Chopin Airport | Poland | 54,722 | Wizz Air |
| 2 | Vienna International Airport | Austria | 52,319 | Wizz Air |
| 3 | Berlin Schönefeld Airport | Germany | 50,804 | Wizz Air |
| 4 | Dortmund Airport | Germany | 42,339 | Wizz Air |
| 5 | Katowice Airport | Poland | 42,081 | Wizz Air |