TAV initializes a $65 million investment in Tbilisi for a new runway

TAV Georgia, a subsidiary of TAV Airports which is a global brand in the airport operation sector, is building a second runway at Tbilisi Airport to accommodate large-body aircrafts. The unused runway will be renovated and extended as part of the agreement reached with United Airports Georgia; the State Airports Authority of Georgia. TAV will be investing $65 million for the project which is expected to last for two years. The opening ceremony, which was held to mark the commencement of the works, was attended by many officials including Georgia's President Mikheil Saakasvili, Economy and Sustainable Development Minister Vera Kobalia and TAV Airports President & CEO M. Sani Sener.

During the speech he delivered at the ceremony, Georgia's President Mikheil Saakasvili said "TAV has been providing added value to Georgia since the day it started operating in our country. It fulfilled every commitment it made in terms of investments. It gained Georgia Tbilisi and Batumi Airports. With this new runway, it is now making a significant investment to help Tbilisi Airport to become a regional hub."

TAV Airports President & CEO M. Sani Sener said "We are very happy to be in Georgia through the Tbilisi and Batumi airports that we currently operate in the country. We are confident that we will be making a considerable contribution to the local economy in a very short period of time and strengthening the existing cooperation between the two countries through the work and investments we realize. We are taking our cooperation one step further with this investment that we are making in Georgia which has now become the Caucasian's center of attraction. We believe that we are a true representative of our country as a respectable global corporation with the know-how we have acquired in the aviation sector."

The unused second runway at the Tbilisi Airport will be renovated and extended in accordance with the international aviation standards to receive the F category classification. By this way, the airport will be able to accept the world's biggest aircrafts such as Airbus A380-800, Boeing 748-8F and Antonov 225.

According to the agreement, the current operational rights of TAV Georgia have been extended by 10 years and 9 months to 2037.

Following the build-operate-transfer tenders it has won, TAV Airports has undertaken the operations of Tbilisi and Batumi Airports in 2005 and 2005 respectively. Batumi Airport is a first in the region in terms of being used as a shared facility between Georgia and Turkey. Direct flights have been launch between the two countries after the undertaking of the operation by TAV Airports.