Abkhazia’s Sukhumi (Sukhum) Airport will sharply reduce the number of flights over winter, leaving just one bi-weekly flight to Moscow until a yet undisclosed date.
The airport ended its summer schedule on 25 October and will be completely closed until 1 November. After that, flights on a 50-seat plane from the Russian airline RusLine will fly to and from Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport, with one-way tickets starting at ₽8,700 ($110).
The previously unannounced winter slowdown has rankled residents of Abkhazia, some of whom told OC Media that they feel as if the long-awaited opening of the airport in May 2025 has been a bit of a disappointment.
The airport was inaugurated with much fanfare, with attendance including Russian officials. It had been shuttered for decades since the War in Abkhazia (1992–1993),
Speaking at the opening ceremony in May, Abkhazian President Badra Gunba personally thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin, emphasising that the decision to open air traffic between Abkhazia and Russia was his direct order.
Since then, the airport has served close to 120,000 passengers, running regular flights to the Russian cities of Moscow, Khanty-Mansiysk, Nizhny Novgorod, and Saint Petersburg.
Abkhazian residents have mixed feelings about the airport and its unexpected winter schedule, which initially caused outrage when it was announced.
The fact that it exists and is finally open is better than nothing, some told OC Media, but others said there is also a certain sense of injustice.
‘We waited 30 years for our airport to open, and now that we’ve waited, we have to be content with only being able to fly in the summer, even though if the prices were just a little different, we could afford to visit Russia more often in the winter as well’, a Sukhumi resident told OC Media on condition of anonymity.
‘Our children study there, and I go to Moscow almost every month. This flight would have been in demand even if a larger plane had been flying’, the resident added.
The abrupt nature of the announcement gave others the impression that the airport was primarily for tourists from Russia to visit Abkhazia in the summer, not for residents of Abkhazia to more easily travel.
‘We are all very happy that a lot is being restored, reconstructed, and repaired, but it gives the impression that all this is being done for people who come here, and not for those who live here. This isn’t for us, especially considering the prices’, another Sukhumi resident speaking on condition of anonymity told OC Media.
Despite the winter reduction, Sukhumi Airport has big plans
During a parliamentary session on Tuesday, MPs decided to set a zero VAT rate on airport services for international air transport provided to foreign airlines.
‘This decision formalises the agreements reached in May 2025 during the airport’s opening. At that time, it was stipulated that the Cabinet of Ministers would develop a list of such services, and the parliament would approve it legislatively’, Dmitry Shamba, the president’s representative in parliament, said.
According to Shamba, the amendment only confirms the list of already agreed-upon services, without adding any new ones. This measure is expected to have a positive impact on air ticket prices and reduce airport service fees, which, according to the MPs, will contribute to the development of air travel.
At the same time, it appears that in 2026, Sukhumi Airport plans to expand its flight network by adding new destinations in Russian cities. According to Astamur Bganba, head of the transport department of the Abkhazian Economy Ministry, the possibility of opening air routes to Kazan, Ufa, Perm, and Pskov is being considered. According to Bganba, the expansion of the route network will contribute to an increase in passenger flow and improved transport accessibility to Abkhazia.
It is unclear if the zero VAT program is connected to the proposal to expand destinations, but Abkhazian officials have ambitious goals to grow their tourism industry — the current slowdown notwithstanding.
By 2030, Abkhazia plans to receive up to 5 million tourists per year, Tourism Minister Astamur Logua has said, summarising the preliminary results of the tourist season at a meeting in the Public Chamber earlier in October. Logua did not specify how many tourists visited Abkhazia during 2025.
For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.
OC Media
