Asian Development Bank announces tender for development plan of new Tbilisi Int’l Airport

The Asian Development Bank has issued a tender for developing a general development plan for the new Tbilisi International Airport, the United Airports of Georgia said on Monday.

The body added it would oversee the selection process for a consulting company to develop the plan and share the project’s costs by 50 percent with ADB, marking the first instance of the Bank and the state company equally sharing costs.

Irakli Karkashadze, the General Director of the body, said “all” airline and consulting companies had the opportunity to participate in the tender for the facility planned in the location of a former military airfield in Vaziani, near the capital city

He emphasised the need for a “detailed and comprehensive” general development plan for the new airport, following preliminary studies and market research conducted in collaboration with ADB.

We conducted market research in collaboration with ADB and held preliminary meetings, including an online conference attended by 35 of the largest international airline consulting companies. There is a lot of interest and we expect to receive many applications. We will select the best company with the most experience”, Karkashadze said.

The tender process will consist of two stages, with a two-week window for companies to submit documentation in the first stage and subsequently receiving detailed technical offers from selected companies.

The winning company will be identified by July, the United Airports of Georgia said.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announces plans for a new “ultra-modern” international airport for Tbilisi in April. He explained the current international airport could serve around 4.5 million passengers per year, but the country was expecting an increase in the number of visitors, therefore the new airport would be designed in a way to ensure increased international connection for both passenger traffic and cargo shipments.

In comments on the project the Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili said the Government aimed to have a “detailed plan by the end of 2025”, with the construction expected to take three years and be “fully operational” by late 2028.

The project is expected to cost $1.26 billion.