Page 47 - GEORptMay20

9.1.3​ Aviation sector news
Aslan Bzhania, president-elect of separatist region Abkhazia in Georgia, has said he wants to restore Sukhumi airport as a means of tightening ties with Russia, the de facto sovereign state’s main sponsor.
Bzhania just recently won the presidential elections in Abkhazia, enjoying significant support from Moscow. He spoke about his plans in an interview with Russian news agency Tass.
“The airport does not work. This problem is very serious, and it must be solved, because it is not only of economic importance. This factor negatively affects our image. The state, with such a good airport, by and large, does not have air traffic with a strategic partner [Russia], the largest state in the world,” Bzhania said, adding that “there are forces that can hinder us in this process”.
Bzhania said he did not know exactly how much time and money it would take to restore the airport, since the issue was still under discussion.
“It is fundamentally important to launch the airport and change the mode of operation at the state border. This is what we must do. This must be solved,” he added.
The airport, located by the village of Babushera, 18 km from Sukhumi, was built in 1960 and was closed in 1993. A project to repair and reconstruct it was developed last October.
Georgia decided to halt flights to and from its airports, with very limited exceptions.​ On March 21, President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili declared a nationwide state of emergency for 30 days to allow the government to pursue required measures to fight the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
"Flights will be [almost] completely halted from today. Only Georgian Airlines will operate certain flights in coordination with the government," Prime Minister's Advisor Irakli Chikovani said on March 21.
9.1.4 ​Tourism sector news
Small countries in Balkans and South Caucasus most exposed to tourism industry collapse
Small countries in the Balkans and South Caucasus are the most exposed to the expected collapse in tourism revenues this year as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic puts a stop to international and domestic travel.
In several of the countries in these sub-regions tourism accounts for some of the largest shares of GDP across the wider Central, Eastern and Southeast Europe and Eurasia area, based on a global survey by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) published in 2018.
Tourism — taking into account both direct and indirect effects — accounted for 31% of GDP in Georgia, and around a quarter in Albania (26.2%), Croatia (25%) and Montenegro (23.7%).
47​ GEORGIA Country Report ​May 2020 ​​www.intellinews.com