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- Do not delay the purchase: has the interest in the resorts of Abkhazia changed after the launch of flights
Do not delay the purchase: has the interest in the resorts of Abkhazia changed after the launch of flights
Sukhumi Airport in Abkhazia is gaining momentum, and the air hub will soon begin receiving not only small Bombardier CRJ200 and Embraer 190 a couple of times a week, but also wide-body Airbus A330s designed for more than 300 passengers every day. And the geography of flights is expanding: for now it's Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod, next up is Khanty-Mansiysk. Experts, however, are confident that so far the introduction of the airport will not change the distribution of demand for resorts in Abkhazia. Even a large liner will provide several times fewer tourists per week than pass through the land border per day. Nevertheless, tour operators advise you to hurry up, places in good hotels are being sorted. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
To Abkhazia — on a big plane
On June 12, iFly Airline will start flying from Moscow to Sukhum. The planned frequency, according to the schedule on the website of the airport of the capital of Abkhazia, is more than 10 departures per week. Biblio Globus tours are offered on the flights. A330–200 aircraft will be involved, and the airline's fleet includes three such airliners with a capacity of 345-370 seats.
Sukhum Airport
In addition, from June 28, RusLine Airlines will fly from Khanty-Mansiysk to Sukhum with a technical landing in Saratov. Flights are scheduled twice a week, on Mondays and Saturdays on Bombardier CRJ200. Now there are direct flights from Moscow on Saturdays, also on Bombardier, and Nizhny Novgorod on Fridays on Embraer. Yuvtaero and Icarus fly, respectively. The aircraft capacity is small: 50 and 100 seats.
That is, so far, 150 people a week fly directly to Abkhazia at maximum load. In the future, more than 4,000 passengers will be able to travel on iFly flights alone in the same seven days. The figure is serious. At the same time, according to rough estimates, about 50 thousand people and 9 thousand cars cross the land border per day. Of course, many of them are tourists who come to Abkhazia without spending the night, but the proportion of organized tourists is also large.
In addition, there are direct daily trains from Moscow and St. Petersburg to Sukhum and tourist trains in the summer.: Sochi (Tuapse — Sochi — Gagra) and Dioskuria (Imereti resort — Sukhum).
Demand has increased in a week
At the same time, according to travel agents, the opening of sales of tours (they were announced on May 26) on direct flights boosted bookings. As told in "Fly.<url>", the level of demand for tours to Abkhazia from May 23 to May 30 and arrivals from the beginning of June to the end of August 2025 is almost 18% higher than similar sales figures from May 16 to May 23.
Geghi Waterfall
"One of the key factors influencing the demand for tourist destinations, including Abkhazia, is the pricing policy,— explained Lyubov Voronina, head of international projects at Fly.<url>" and the managing director of the Let's Fly tour operator. "The launch of charter programs allows us to offer more competitive prices for tours."
Now, they clarified in "Fly.<url>", book a trip to Abkhazia for two for 7 nights with departure in June from Moscow and accommodation in a 3* hotel for breakfast starting from 49,600 rubles, in a 4* hotel — from 58,400 rubles.
It's cheaper than buying a plane ticket. For example, on the Tutu website, we managed to find flights to Sukhum and back on iFly flights for June 28 — July 4 for 27.5 thousand and 34.9 thousand rubles per person.
Tickets from the regions are comparable. On the carriers' website, they can be purchased for 25 thousand rubles from Nizhny Novgorod and back, and for 36.8 thousand rubles from Khanty—Mansiysk in both directions (departure and return dates: end of June - beginning of July).
"The launch of a new airport is a complicated and complicated story. Moreover, he still has a very strong competitor at his side - Sochi Airport," said Sergey Romashkin, ATOR Vice President and CEO of Dolphin.
Sochi International Airport named after V.I. Sevastyanov
You can fly from Moscow to Adler and back for 18 thousand rubles. If you search and play with dates, there is a chance to find cheaper deals. And the hub's route network consists of 85 destinations, of which 57 are domestic.
"We expect Sukhumi Airport to be fully loaded next year," said Lyubov Voronina.
"I'm flying to Gagra now!"
"The top 5 resorts for traveling in Abkhazia with arrivals during the summer season include: Gagra (41.4% — the share of total sales in the direction), Pitsunda (19.7%), Gudauta (12.5%), Sukhum (10.5%), New Athos (9.2%), Ochamchira (6.6%)," said <url>.
The most popular ones are Gagra and Pitsunda, which account for at least 60% of the tourist flow, and are closer to Sochi than Sukhumi. However, given the heavy traffic, it can take several hours to cross the border. For example, tourists, knowing this, try to bring even before 5 a.m. There are different tips: from arriving in the morning or evening, or, conversely, in the afternoon, when there are practically no tourists who go to Abkhazia for one day.
The Hague Colonnade
"Direct flights to Abkhazia, in my opinion, will add an additional, more, so to speak, solvent audience," suggested Sergey Agafonov, General Director of the Burning Vouchers travel agency chain. — Now they mostly go through this border crossing and choose a variety of accommodation options. But tourists who decide to fly to Abkhazia directly, I am more than sure, will be more demanding."
According to him, Abkhazia has a variety of opportunities, there is everything: from cheap apartments (you can find even for 500-800 rubles per day for two people without breakfast) to good expensive hotels. But there is also one disadvantage: if you want something special, exclusive, then you need to book in advance, and not wait until the last, because the capacity is limited.
By the way, as specified in "Fly.<url>", the average check for tours to Abkhazia with arrivals in the period from the beginning of June to the end of August increased by 7.9%, to 116,300 rubles compared with the data for the same period a year earlier. But this is probably due not to an increase in more solvent demand, but to a general rise in prices.
"Gagra is still in the top of demand - hotels such as Alex Resort, Amza Park, Amra Park, Kavkaz and the new Bay of Dreams Hotel. And, of course, the branded hotels in Pitsunda — OP "Resort Pitsunda" and "Litfond," Intourist said. — The village of Tsandripsh is pleasantly surprised — the closest resort area to the Russian-Abkhazian border, where comfortable hotels with a modern level of service and an individual approach to the client are popular: Bruni Loft, Green Land, Amra Sunrise, Viva Glamp."
Also, according to the tour operator's experts, the popular Garuda chain in Sukhumi is actively selling. This is the Garuda Boutique city hotel, a unique glamping in the Garuda Glamping mountains and a beach hotel near Sukhumi airport on the first line of Garuda Beach Village. The last two, by the way, offer an all-inclusive system. As previously reported in Intourist, it does not seriously differ from what is available in Russian resorts: "only Caucasian hospitality, the availability of local cuisine, Abkhazian wine and chacha."
The company also confirmed: "As always, there is only one advice — do not delay with bookings, popular hotels in Abkhazia very quickly become on the "stop".
"Currently, Abkhazia could benefit from the expansion of the number of rooms, which could potentially have a positive impact on the development of tourism in the region. Also, one of the important areas is to further improve the level of service in hotels," said Lyubov Voronina.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
