Key Takeaways
- Tbilisi is Georgia's main gateway. Tbilisi International Airport (TBS) serves around 68 regularly-served nonstop destinations, the only large hub in the country and home base of flag carrier Georgian Airways. It handles almost all of Georgia's long-haul, business and connecting traffic; Kutaisi and Batumi are far smaller and more seasonal.
- Kutaisi is a Wizz Air low-cost base. David the Builder Kutaisi International Airport (KUT) reaches about 34 destinations, built overwhelmingly around budget carrier Wizz Air. Cheap fares from western Georgia turned it into a springboard between Europe and the Caucasus and opened the country up to budget travellers.
- Batumi is the Black Sea resort airport. Batumi International Airport (BUS) serves roughly 24 destinations and is intensely seasonal, driven by summer leisure traffic from Israel, Turkey, Russia and Belarus to the Adjara coast. Its route map swells in summer and thins sharply in winter.
- Direct flights to Russia resumed in 2023. After a four-year ban, Russian carriers Azimuth and Red Wings, alongside Georgian Airways, fly Moscow to Tbilisi and Kutaisi again. It is a politically charged link: the two countries have no diplomatic relations and Russia continues to occupy Georgia's Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions.
- Sukhumi lies in occupied Abkhazia. The fourth airport sits in the Russian-controlled breakaway region of Abkhazia. It reopened in 2025 with Moscow-only flights that the Georgian government considers unauthorised. No airport in Georgia has a scheduled nonstop flight to the United States.
Georgia, the country in the South Caucasus (not the US state), runs a compact aviation network shaped by tourism, a large diaspora and its position between Europe, Russia, Turkey and the Middle East. Just three airports carry almost all of its passenger traffic: the capital hub at Tbilisi, the low-cost base at Kutaisi in the west, and the Black Sea resort airport at Batumi on the Adjara coast. A fourth airport, Sukhumi, lies in the Russian-controlled breakaway region of Abkhazia and is reachable only from Russia.
Below we map and rank Georgia’s airports by the number of nonstop destinations each one serves, drawn from live route data on AirportRoutes. We rank by regularly-served destinations, routes flown often enough to count as scheduled service, rather than raw nonstop totals. The figures come from observed flight data (a sample rather than a complete published timetable), so treat them as a guide to relative connectivity, not official totals.
Which Georgian airports have direct flights to the US?
None. No airport in Georgia has a scheduled nonstop flight to the United States. The country has a relatively small long-haul market, and its busiest international routes run to nearby hubs in Turkey, the Gulf and the former Soviet space rather than across the Atlantic.
Travellers heading to the US typically connect through Istanbul on Turkish Airlines, a Gulf hub such as Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi, or a European gateway like Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna or Warsaw. Tbilisi is the practical starting point for almost all of these connections, since it offers by far the widest choice of onward flights.
Can you fly directly between Georgia and Russia?
Yes, again. Russia banned direct flights to Georgia in 2019 after a political dispute, then lifted the ban in May 2023. Since then Russian carriers Azimuth and Red Wings, alongside Georgian Airways, have flown nonstop between Moscow and both Tbilisi and Kutaisi. The reopening was politically charged: the two countries have no diplomatic relations, Russia continues to occupy Georgia’s Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions, which it recognised as independent after the 2008 war, and protesters met the first flights at Tbilisi airport while the European Union criticised the move.
Separately, the only air service into the Abkhazia breakaway region runs from Russia to the reopened airport at Sukhumi (covered below), which the Georgian government regards as unauthorised. Within Georgian-government-controlled territory, the Russian flights serve Tbilisi and Kutaisi.
Ranked
Major Airports in Georgia by Nonstop Destinations
Ranked by regularly-served nonstop destinations, busiest first.
| Airport | IATA | Nonstop | Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Tbilisi | TBS | 68 | Tbilisi (capital, east) |
| 2. Kutaisi | KUT | 34 | Kutaisi (west) |
| 3. Batumi | BUS | 24 | Batumi (Black Sea coast) |
| 4. Sukhumi | SUI | 1 | Abkhazia (Russian-controlled) |
A closer look at Georgia’s airports
✈️ Tbilisi International Airport (TBS)
Tbilisi International Airport lies about 17 km southeast of the capital and is by far the largest and busiest airport in Georgia. It is the home base of flag carrier Georgian Airways and, like Batumi, is run under a long concession by Turkey’s TAV Airports, which has expanded the terminal as traffic has recovered and grown.
Serving the capital and effectively the whole country, TBS reaches around 68 regularly-served nonstop destinations, a genuinely international network that dwarfs every other Georgian airport. Its busiest links run to Baku, Istanbul (both the main airport and Sabiha Gokcen), Dubai, Tel Aviv, Sharjah and Minsk, alongside the resumed flights to Moscow. There are no true intercontinental nonstops beyond the Gulf, so Tbilisi works above all as the connecting gateway for almost all of Georgia’s long-haul travel.
Main airlines: Georgian Airways, Turkish Airlines, Azimuth, Air Astana, Flynas, Red Wings. See the full route map on AirportRoutes →
💺 David the Builder Kutaisi International Airport (KUT)
David the Builder Kutaisi International Airport sits at Kopitnari near Kutaisi, the largest city in western Georgia and the heart of the Imereti region. It is named after the medieval Georgian king David IV, known as David the Builder, and reopened in 2012 after a full reconstruction that turned it into the country’s low-cost gateway.
Serving western Georgia, KUT reaches about 34 regularly-served nonstop destinations, built overwhelmingly around Wizz Air, which made Kutaisi one of its bases. The network is a budget springboard between Europe and the Caucasus: Larnaca, Warsaw, Athens, Prague and Milan, plus Central Asian and Belarusian links such as Atyrau, Astana and Minsk. Cheap fares here opened Georgia up to European weekend and backpacker travel.
Main airlines: Wizz Air, FlyArystan, Belavia, Pegasus Airlines, Red Wings. See the full route map on AirportRoutes →
🏖️ Batumi International Airport (BUS)
Batumi International Airport stands on the Black Sea coast at Batumi, capital of the Adjara region and Georgia’s main beach-resort city, close to the Turkish border. It is also operated by TAV Airports and has historically had an unusual joint arrangement that allowed it to serve travellers from the neighbouring Turkish region as well.
Serving Batumi and the Adjara coast, BUS reaches roughly 24 regularly-served nonstop destinations and is intensely seasonal and leisure-driven. Its biggest summer markets are Israel (Tel Aviv on Israir, El Al and Arkia), Turkey (Istanbul), Russia (Moscow, Sochi and Yekaterinburg) and Belarus (Minsk). The route map swells with charter and scheduled holiday flights in summer and thins sharply in winter.
Main airlines: Red Wings, Flynas, Israir, Turkish Airlines, El Al, Arkia. See the full route map on AirportRoutes →
🛑 Sukhumi (Vladislav Ardzinba) International Airport (SUI)
Sukhumi airport sits in Abkhazia, a breakaway region on Georgia’s northwest Black Sea coast that slipped from Tbilisi’s control after the 1992-93 war and the 2008 Russia-Georgia war. Abkhazia is recognised as part of Georgia by most of the world, but is controlled in practice by local authorities backed by Russia, which stations troops there. We include the airport because it lies within Georgia’s internationally recognised territory, but it is not under Georgian government control.
Named after Vladislav Ardzinba, the first de-facto leader of Abkhazia, the airport sat closed for about three decades until it was rebuilt and reopened in May 2025. Its only scheduled service is to Moscow, flown by Russian carriers, with further Russian cities planned. Because the flights operate without Georgian authorisation and Tbilisi does not recognise Abkhazia, the Georgian government regards them as illegal and has worked through international aviation channels to block the airport’s wider use. In practice it is reachable only from Russia.
Main airline: RusLine. See the full route map on AirportRoutes →
Airport rankings, nonstop-destination counts, served regions and airline lists are drawn from live AirportRoutes route data (observed AeroAPI flight data, a sample rather than a complete published schedule; we use the regularly-served figure, which filters one-off observations). Airport locations and notable facts are cross-checked against the cited references. The ranked map is a Mappr original.
Primary Data Source:
- AirportRoutes: Major airports and routes, Georgia – Live route data: per-airport nonstop destinations, served cities and airlines.
Reference:
- Wikipedia: Tbilisi International Airport – Airport history, location and operator details referenced in the Tbilisi section.
- Reuters: Russia and Georgia resume direct flights (May 2023) – Resumption of nonstop Moscow flights to Tbilisi and Kutaisi referenced in the Russia section.
- Wikipedia: Sukhumi Babushara Airport – Reopening, location in Abkhazia and operational status referenced in the Sukhumi section.
- Locator maps: Google Maps / Google Static Maps – Per-airport location maps with airplane markers, generated via Google Static Maps.
Image Sources:
- Map by Mappr – Map of major airports in Georgia, a Mappr original built from AirportRoutes data and Natural Earth boundaries.
🌍 More maps & data for Georgia
Browse more: All airports by country
