Tbilisi Airport

Wow big improvements since 2003 (see first posting of mine at the bottom of the page). The terminal is bright clean and best of all efficiently run. Now airbridges lead directly into the terminal. Queues are short at immigration and in my case baggage was very quick. Taxi drivers have been thrown out into the cold so you can wait at arrivals without being hassled. For departures check-in is smooth silly customs procedures have been done away with staff levels of English are good and smiling officials wish you a merry journey. The only negatives are still a lack of seating in departures and the still early time slots the airlines enter and leave. But a big well done to the Georgian government and keep up the improvements.

Tbilisi is a small airport with only three aerobridges. Arrival customs efficient enough but had to wait over 30 minutes for bags to come out. I arrived late in the evening (and departed very early in the morning) so I was not able to make use of the (newish) railway connection into the city. I arranged for airport-hotel transfer (expensive at 25 euros each way!) and thus avoided the waiting taxi drivers. Departure check-in was reasonably efficient but there was only one X-ray machine which slowed things considerably. Air-side there were a few shops and eateries that were open at 4.00am.

The airport is OK and easy to use. Fast entry procedures. ATMs work OK. However the taxi driver mob outside is a bit irritating. Airport rail terminal modern and staff very helpful. However few trains operate and the city arrivals platform at the central station is dark and uninviting at early hours.

There was so much cigarette smoke pollution in the departure lounge it was impossible to escape the smoke. I ended up with an asthma attack which didn't leave off during the whole flight and I continue to suffer with difficult breathing three days later. The fact that there were no windows and no air movement only exacerbated the situation. I tried to find someone who could find me another less uncomfortable place to sit but no-one understood English well enough to help me.

Additionally to the rip-offs practised by taxi drivers (the official rate airport - downtown is 20 lari but 30 are charged to Avlabari which lies between downtown and the airport) and the still not used railway connection there are municipal busses (line 37) going downtown every 20 minutes charging 0.40 lari for the trip. They touch at least the first stations of the inner city subway until Avlabari (Old Tbilisi)

I travelled recently using the new terminal which is very efficient and clean. Falling panels from the new roof in cases of strong wind present a certain danger however. It is perceived as a national shame by locals. Passengers should also expect beggars to be there at the earliest hours of the morning at the check-in desks. There appears to be a plan for a rail link to the city centre which would allow to avoid the excessively high taxi fares (one has to expect 25 Euros at time of writing). A station is visible and ready opposite the terminal building. With the state of public finances and the strong presence of taxi drivers one may doubt a rapid introduction of passenger service.

I've flown in and out of Tbilisi many times. The airport is the standard Soviet model (but certainly not the worst) until this last trip! The new terminal is bright clean welcoming and efficient. The design is similar to a miniature Istanbul and very easy to move through. The decor of marbel/garnite tiles with steel open windows and red accents are lovely. Kudos on the new airport very reasonable duty free (wine for $5/bottle!) and comfortable environs! Even at 4:00 am it's a pleasant place to be!

These comments are rather old and out of date. Tbilisi airport is much better than for example Yerevan airport. The passport queues are very quick now luggage arrives speedily the airport is modern and bright and a new terminal is opening within the next few weeks. There is a bar constantly open for those who depart. Yes it is a small airport but it is also a small country! The flights still mostly arrive in the middle of the night presumably in order not to disturb the gentle citizens around European airports who need their sleep.

I found this one of the most revolting airports I have ever been. The facilities have changed little since soviet times and are just too small. In arrivals there was only one luggage-belt. Some thugs monopolized the trollies and demanded money from foreigners who wanted to use them. Unruly taxi drivers even pushed their way into the arrivals hall looking for prey (foreigners). Departure was even worse. The departure hall is much bigger and supposedly better organized but still we had a very unpleasant time there. First of all most flights seem to leave very early in the morning (around 5 AM) which is already inconvenient. Secondly the check-in of several flights at the same time causes a lot of confusion. Staff works extremely slow and broad shouldered types simply push their way up the lines while people behind you gladly try to push you aside. The guards in the hall are uninterested in this and do not take any action at all. After receiving our boarding pass we had to go upstairs. In spite of the sign "passengers only" the stairs were blocked by people saying goodbye to their loved ones. There were only 2 desks for foreign passports. Even here some unpleasant types tried to push themselves in front. People from western countries were treated politely but my wife who has a Moldovan passport and a valid residence permit for the Netherlands experienced real trouble. An extremely unfriendly female official grabbed her passport and without any explanation went into some office rudely ordering my wife to follow her. I went after her and found some officer holding my wife's passport. I demanded an explanation as well as their names and registration numbers. One good thing about Georgia's rose revolution is the fact that officials are in fact required to identify themselves when asked and that it is also possible to make a complaint against them. Luckily this helped without even looking into the passport he gave it back saying that there was " no problem" . I am sure that without this intervention they might have detained my wife for hours. I am deeply disappointed that officials at this airport show a smiling face to westerners while at the same time they apparently take pleasure in harrassing people from poor countries. After this intermezzo we had to go to the metal detector. There was only one working so again a huge queue had formed. This detector did not work at all - it went off for almost everybody but not for me even though I was carrying a pocket knife with me! Finally we had reached the " departure lounge" an extremely small area with a bar and one sad " tax free shop". I am a smoker myself but the fumes exhausted by visitors of the bar were even too much for me. There seemed to be no toilet at all however when looking really well (a small corridor behind the bar) you could find it. Even though Georgia produces wonderful souvenirs there was nothing except cigarettes and some alcoholic drinks in the taxfree sold by some unfriendly women spending their time chatting to each other and taking cigarette-breaks. There were 2 " exit gates" (not indicated by numbers). Departures were announced in unclear english (no monitors). Travellers had to walk down to ground level were busses were waiting to take them to the planes. Since these busses stand next to each other and several take-offs take place almost simultaneously this leads to confusion when people get into the wrong bus. We were really glad to have the ordeal behind us. A terrible place unworthy of this beautiful country!

For an international airport Tbilisi is almost unforgivably small but this is because it was only a regional airport for the Caucasus region until 1991 when Georgia became independent from the USSR. The first sight that greets you is an enormous Marlboro billboard. Passport control is almost immediately at the entrance after which you go to baggage pick-up which is frightfully small for what is now an international airport. However it is located right next to the passport control desks so it is impossible to miss. The exit is right after baggage pickup. All this is located in the small first-floor area of the airport and you can clearly see the exit the minute you walk inside things are that compact. The departure hall is larger and much better organized than arrivals. Signage is adequate but only in Georgian and to a lesser extent English. Even though the majority of people visiting Tbilisi would come from former Soviet republics Russian remains totally absent from signs due to political reasons even though it would be more common among passengers than English.