Tbilisi airport is being rebuilt for 10 million passengers — double what it handles now

Georgia Today reported in July 2026 that TAV Georgia, the operator and part of TAV Airports within France's Groupe ADP, had begun a $150 million expansion of Tbilisi International Airport. The plan raises annual capacity from five million passengers to ten million and is scheduled for completion in 2028. The work covers the terminal itself, airfield infrastructure and the technology behind passenger processing.

The published list includes ten passenger boarding bridges, seven remote aircraft stands, nine additional check-in desks, two more baggage belts, twenty-four passport control positions, enlarged retail and dining areas and more parking. Passport control and baggage are the two points where arriving groups actually lose time in Georgia, so those two lines matter more to a tour operator than the terminal's floor area does.

Airlines add routes where an airport can take them. A terminal at its limit means peak-hour slots are scarce, which discourages new carriers and keeps fares high in summer. Doubling declared capacity is what makes a larger route network plausible over the next few years — and route networks, not marketing, are what decide which countries send visitors here.

Building inside a working airport usually means temporary layouts, moved check-in areas and changed walking routes, particularly at peak times. Hosts and operators meeting guests should confirm the arrivals arrangement before each pickup rather than assuming last season's door. It is a small habit that saves the most common start-of-trip complaint.