Mestia Queen Tamar Airport runway - Svaneti, Georgia

Queen Tamar Airport , or Mestia Airport, is a small domestic airport serving

Mestia Mestia ( ka, მესტია ) is a highland townlet ('' daba'') in northwest Georgia, at an elevation of in the Caucasus Mountains. General information Mestia is located in the Svaneti region of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti province (''mkhare''), ...

, a town in

Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti ( Georgian: სამეგრელო-ზემო სვანეთი) is a region (Mkhare) in western Georgia with a population of 308,358 (2021) and a surface of . The region has Zugdidi as its administrative center, ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. Since its reopening in 2010 it is named after the medieval "queen king" regnant

Tamar of Georgia Tamar the Great ( ka, თამარ მეფე, tr, lit. "King Tamar") ( 1160 – 18 January 1213) reigned as the Queen of Georgia from 1184 to 1213, presiding over the apex of the Georgian Golden Age. A member of the Bagrationi dynasty ...

, who is a popular symbol in Georgian popular culture. The airport is owned and operated by

United Airports of Georgia United Airports of Georgia LLC ( Georgian language საქართველოს აეროპორტების გაერთიანება) is a state-owned company in Georgia established in 2011, functioning under the Ministry ...

, a state-owned company. The airport is located at above sea level in the valley near Mestia, wedged between the mountains of the

Greater Caucasus The Greater Caucasus ( az, Böyük Qafqaz, Бөјүк Гафгаз, بيوک قافقاز; ka, დიდი კავკასიონი, ''Didi K’avk’asioni''; russian: Большой Кавказ, ''Bolshoy Kavkaz'', sometimes translat ...

General

Mestia Airport is a small regional airport, with a paved runway of , which is served only domestically. It is located above sea level in the valley of the Mestiachala River, wedged between the mountains of the

, with peaks above . It serves not only summer tourism to the mountains of

Svanetia Svaneti or Svanetia (Suania in ancient sources; ka, სვანეთი ) is a historic province in the northwestern part of Georgia. It is inhabited by the Svans, an ethnic subgroup of Georgians. Geography Situated on the southern slop ...

, but also skiresorts Hatsvali and Tetnuldi. Due to the remoteness of the inaccessible mountain valley, Mestia was served by air in Soviet times, which was not without risks. Two

Antonov An-2 The Antonov An-2 ("kukuruznik"—corn crop duster; USAF/DoD reporting name Type 22, NATO reporting name Colt) is a Soviet mass-produced single-engine biplane utility/agricultural aircraft designed and manufactured by the Antonov Design Bure ...

biplanes crashed near Mestia. Upon reopening,

Kenn Borek Air Kenn Borek Air is an airline based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It operates regional passenger and cargo services, contract operations in the Arctic and Antarctic and aircraft leasing. Its main base is at Calgary International Airport. It chart ...

from Canada, a company specializing in flights in difficult conditions, started scheduled flights between Mestia and

Natakhtari Natakhtari ( ka, ნატახტარი) is a village in the Mtskheta municipality, Mtskheta-Mtianeti region, Georgia. It is located in Eastern Georgia, on the right bank of the Aragvi The Aragvi ( ka, არაგვი) and its basin a ...

(

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

) with a

DHC-6 Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restarted ...

. This contract was terminated in mid-2013. It took until mid-2014 until flights to Mestia were resumed when Service Air, a Georgian company which owns and operates the Natakhtari airfield, won a contract for the route. Its subsidiary Vanilla Sky Airlines services the route since with a 19-seat

Let L-410 The Let L-410 Turbolet is a twin-engine short-range transport aircraft, manufactured by the Czech aircraft manufacturer Let Kunovice (named Aircraft Industries since 2005), often used as an airliner. The aircraft is capable of landing on short a ...

. In spring 2016, the

Kutaisi Kutaisi (, ka, ქუთაისი ) is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the third-most populous city in Georgia, traditionally, second in importance, after the capital city of Tbilisi. Situated west of Tbilis ...

- Mestia route followed, shortly after Hungarian

Wizz Air Wizz Air, legally incorporated as Wizz Air Hungary Ltd. ( hu, Wizz Air Hungary Légiközlekedési Zrt.) is a Hungarian ultra-low-cost carrier with its head office in Budapest, Hungary. The airline serves many cities across Europe, as well as s ...

committed to creating a hub out of Kutaisi airport, guaranteeing the flow of tourists. Due to the outbreak of the corona pandemic, air traffic in Georgia was completely shut down by the government in 2020, except for mandated flights. While international traffic was not opened until February 2021, domestic traffic resumed in the summer of 2020, and in November 2021 the connection with Kutaisi was restored. Compared with Georgia's international airports, the passenger flow through Mestia was impacted relatively mild, and picked up again in 2021 in sold numbers.

History

After the 2003

Rose Revolution The Rose Revolution or Revolution of Roses ( ka, ვარდების რევოლუცია, tr) was a nonviolent change of power that occurred in Georgia in November 2003. The event was brought about by widespread protests over the ...

of 2003, when tourism became a focal point of policy, Mestia was quickly identified to be upgraded with a new airport including a paved runway. In December 2010, the Queen Tamar Airport was opened by President

Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil Saakashvili ( ka, მიხეილ სააკაშვილი ; uk, Міхеіл Саакашвілі ; born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist.

, who flew in with his government for a cabinet meeting. The airport building, designed by the German architect Jürgen Mayer, is the most striking feature of the airport. It is a modern take on the

Svan towers Svan towers ( ka, სვანური კოშკი, tr) refers to the tower houses built as defensive dwellings in the Georgian historical region of Svaneti (present-day Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti). These towers are unique to the region and wer ...

, the medieval defensive towers that are characteristic of the region.

Airlines and destinations

Statistics

References

External links