Irakli Karkashadze, the Director of the United Airports of Georgia, said that the development of the Queen Tamar Airport in the country’s north-western Svaneti region was "one of the main priorities" in the body’s 2023 plans, TurkicWorld reports with reference to Agenda

The organisation cited Karkashadze as saying "a number of innovations" were planned for the Airport, located in the mountainous region popular with tourists, this year.

This 12-year-old Airport has been used by more than 60,000 local and international visitors, which clearly showed us [its] very important function for Svaneti. We are planning to implement large infrastructure projects at Mestia Airport [including] terminal rehabilitation, [...] a new fire station, [...] renewal of special equipment", Karkashadze said.

Frequency of Kutaisi-Mestia flights, which connect the hub city of the western Imereti region with the town in Svaneti, will be increased to meet demand from international tourists travelling to the highland location for ski adventures, he also revealed.

The UAG said the share of foreign citizens in the total number of passengers on the Mestia-Kutaisi-Mestia flight had stood at 70 percent last year, with the number measured at 37.5 percent on the Natakhtari-Mestia-Natakhtari route.

The Queen Tamar Airport, designed by the German architect Jürgen Mayer-Hermann, opened in Mestia in 2010.