Kazakhstan Increases Weekly Flights To Georgia As Demand Grows

Kazakhstan’s SCAT Airlines announced on Thursday that it will begin regular direct flights to Kutaisi and Batumi cities in Georgia, starting May 22 and June 2, respectively.

The flight from Kazakhstan’s Caspian Sea coastal city of Aktau to Georgia’s western city of Kutaisi will operate twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Flights to the Black Sea resort city of Batumi will run four times per week, on Wednesdays, Fridays, and on the weekends, according to the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia. 

SCAT Airlines, which will offer flights to all three airports in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi by the end of this summer, will reportedly use Boeing 737 airplanes for the round-trip Kutaisi and Batumi flights. A round-trip Aktau-Kutaisi-Aktau ticket will cost $1,057, according to SCAT Airline’s official website.

SCAT Airlines, founded in 1997, offers flights to more than 80 domestic and international destinations. Besides Georgia, the company operates flights to Azerbaijan, Russia, Armenia and Turkey.

Last month Air Astana, Kazakhstan’s principle airline and national carrier, announced it will be increasing its flights to Tbilisi, currently running twice a week, to four times per week, as of June 2. Flights will operate on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

The number of passengers served at Georgian airports reached 2.85 million in 2016, up by over half a million, or 25 percent, from 2015 figures, the GCAA reported.

In 2016, the overall tourist inflow to Georgia from around the world exceeded 6 million. According to the Georgian news portal Tabula.ge roughly 46,000 travelers visiting Georgia in 2016 came from Kazakhstan, putting the Central Asian country at number eight. Neighboring Azerbaijan occupied the number one spot, with over 1.4 million tourists visiting Georgia last year, Armenia at number two (1.33 million), Turkey at number three (1.17 million) and Russia coming in at number four (980 thousand).