Sukhumi’s airport becomes operational for the first time in 33 years

The Sukhumi (Sukhum) airport received its first flight in 33 years on Thursday. The airport had been shuttered since the war in Abkhazia in the early 1990s.

Although reconstruction work being carried out by a Russian company on the airport is ongoing, the airport was ceremonially opened with an inaugural flight from Moscow.

In the evening at 18:26 Sukhumi time, a small 50-seat plane landed at the airport, mainly carrying Abkhazian–Russian artists. There were very few ordinary passengers who bought the tickets on their own, but the few who were on the plane were mostly Abkhazian students who were studying in Moscow.

Some of the students told OC Media that the flight was a much more convenient way to get home.

‘From Sochi, the journey, including the border crossing, can take up to three hours, but this way, after customs control, I will be home in half an hour maximum,’ a student from Sukhumi who studies in Moscow told OC Media.

The arriving passengers were met by a delegation that included Abkhazian President Badra Gunba and the First Deputy Head of the Russian Presidential Administration Sergey Kiriyenko, who has been the Kremlin’s primary interlocutor in Abkhazia. The arrival was accompanied by much fanfare, including folk dances and various toasts.

The ‘ideological inspiration’ for the airport

After the ceremonial events, the officials spoke to the gathered journalists — Gunba personally thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin, emphasising that the decision to open air traffic between Abkhazia and Russia was his direct order.

Gunba also extended a rhetorical hand to former President Aslan Bzhaniya, who resigned amidst anti-government protests in November 2024. He lavished praise on Bzhaniya, claiming that he had made great efforts to ensure the airport launch project was implemented.

‘I cannot help but thank the person who sincerely believed and started implementing this project, Aslan Bzhaniya. He was the ideological inspiration for this project. It is to his credit that the airport is working’, Gunba said.

In turn, Kiriyenko skipped the platitudes, and instead discussed how the airport’s opening would help facilitate tourism in Abkhazia, especially the eastern part of the region.

‘Those who are [currently] traveling by car are more likely to stay in Gagra, Pitsunda, or New Athos; it's not very comfortable for tourists to go further, beyond Sukhumi. Therefore, the opening of the airport and the arrival of the ‘Dioskuriya’ train provide new opportunities for development’, Kiriyenko said, referring to Russian tourists who visit Abkhazia.

Several hours earlier, Gunba and Kiriyenko had visited the Sukhumi railway station, where they observed the electric train Dioskuriya which also began to run on 1 May between the Russian city of Sochi and Sukhumi in a journey of under four hours.

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.

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