Shota Rustaveli Tbilisi International Airport (Georgian: თბილისის შოთა რუსთაველის სახელობის საერთაშორისო აეროპორტი) (IATA: TBS, ICAO: UGTB) formerly Novo Alexeyevka International Airport, is the main international airport in Georgia, located 17 km (11 mi) southeast of the capital Tbilisi.
The first airport terminal building was constructed in 1952. Designed by the architect V. Beridze in the style of Stalinist aricecture the building featured a floor plan with symmetric axes and a monumental risalit in the form of a portico. The two side wings featured blind arcades in giant order. A new terminal building was finished in 1990, designed in the International Style. In 1981 Tbilisi airport was the 12th largest airport in the Soviet Union, with 1,478,000 passengers on so-called central lines, that is on flights connecting Tbilisi with cities in other Soviet republics.[ In 1998 the number of passengers had shrunk to 230,000 per year.
Tbilisi International Airport is operated by TAV since October, 2005. In Georgia the company also operates airport in Batumi for 20-year term starting from May 2007. TAV Airports Holding, which owns 76% shares in Tbilisi airport operator TAV Urban Georgia, agreed with the Georgian state-owned United Airports of Georgia to reconstruct the unused runway, one of the two runways at the Tbilisi airport. The old runway will be reconstructed and extended according to ICAO standards and code F regulations and will be able to accept all type of aircraft, including the Boeing 747-8, Airbus A380-800, Antonov An-225 and Antonov An-124. A new F Code taxiway is also planned.
Passenger traffic at the airport more than doubled between 2009 and 2013 to almost 1.44 million passengers.
Tbilisi Intl Airport in Tbilisi, Georgia has a runway length of 9843 feet and is suitable for Small props, Small Jets, Medium Jets, Long Range Jets, Regional Airliners and Large Airliners.
