After 30 years of inactivity, the reconstructed Sukhumi airport has begun operations in test mode. The first passenger on the trial Moscow-Sukhumi flight was Abkhaz presidential candidate Badra Gunba—the successor to ousted ex-president Aslan Bzhania and the Kremlin’s favored candidate.

Also on board were Abkhaz students studying at Russian universities.

In reality, this flight was arranged specifically for Gunba. The Kremlin appears to believe that his participation in the airport’s opening will boost his popularity and secure his victory in the February 15 election.

In Moscow, where Gunba arrived from, he was on a visit as an “Abkhaz political figure.” This vague phrasing was likely meant to obscure the fact that he currently holds no government position and has no legal authority to conduct official meetings.

However, this didn’t stop him from meeting a string of high-ranking Russian officials over two days, even reaching the Presidential Administration.

Moreover, “by agreement with Gunba,” Moscow resumed free electricity supplies to Abkhazia on February 7 and promised to restore all socio-economic aid programs for the republic.

In short, backed and promoted by the Kremlin, Gunba is acting as if he is already the elected president.

“Today marks a very important event. For the first time in over 30 years, Sukhumi Airport has received a plane—something we have long been waiting for. I am confident that flight routes to Russia will continue to expand,” said Badra Gunba at the airport’s opening.

Sukhumi Airport had been inactive since the end of the 1992-93 Georgian-Abkhaz war. However, in 2023, Abkhazia and Russia signed an agreement to reconstruct the airport—on terms highly favorable to the Russian side.

According to Gunba, regular flights from Sukhumi to various Russian cities will begin with the start of the tourist season, operated exclusively by Russian airlines.

Although Sukhumi Airport still retains its “international” designation, as it did in Soviet times, in reality, it functions as a bilateral airport—since Abkhazia remains an unrecognized republic, the airport lacks an international license, preventing any other airlines from operating flights there.