Popular Airport | Kutaisi Intl. Airport |
---|---|
Popular Airlines | |
Approximate Flight Duration | 3 hour 40 min |
Approximate Travel Distance | 2953 Km |
You can reach Quaid–E–Azam International Airport from Karachi city center by using a bus or minibus. However, using a means of public transportation can make you lose time even though it is the most affordable transportation alternative. If you decide to use a faster transportation vehicle, you can get on a taxi. Renting a car is another option.
There are many car rental companies offering service in the city center. Most of them are local companies. In Pakistan, traffic is generally heavy and complicated. For this reason, tourists are advised to rent a car with a driver by contacting a reliable company. You can get help from your hotel about this issue before your travel. You should drive on the highway N5 and take the Jinnah Terminal Road in order to reach the airport. You can get to Quaid–E–Azam International Airport in about half an hour under normal traffic conditions by following the airport directions.
It is possible to reach the airport in approximately one hour by getting on an airport bus in the city center. One-way ticket price of these buses is 50 Pakistani Rupee per passenger. There are also minibuses carrying passengers to the airport from the city center. These vehicles are cheaper but tourists may be charged higher amounts. In addition, minibuses are very crowded. For these reasons, buses are more preferred by foreign visitors.
Travelling to the airport from the city center lasts about half an hour. You should bargain over the fare before getting on any taxi. The cost of travelling to the airport from the city center is about 300 – 500 Pakistani Rupee.
Quaid–E–Azam International Airport, which is known as Jinnah International Airport shortly, is located 14 km east of the city center. There are foreign exchange office, ATMs and baggage rooms at the airport. In addition, there are restaurants and cafes where you can try local tastes as well as the delicacies from the world cuisine. You can do shopping at the stores where you can find various products specific to Pakistan like carpet and rugs. There is also a duty-free shop at the airport. There is a mosque near the airport parking area. Although there is not any hotel within the building, you can stay at Ramada Plaza Hotel located 1 km of the airport.
There is the Rioni river at the entrance of Kutaisi, which is the second largest and most developed city of Georgia, and this river literally divides the city into two. Kutaisi is located in the Imerati Region in the western part of Georgia and its distance to the country’s capital, Tbilisi, is approximately 221 kilometers. The city’s population is around 201.000. Kutaisi’s urban transportation is mostly composed of buses, trolleys, taxis and mini-buses called marshrutka.
There is also a big train station in the city. But from this train station, daily express trains from Kutaisi to Georgia’s other major cities depart. As the area of the city is small, majority of the visitors walk or use taxis for transportation.
Kutaisi railway terminal is directly connected to Georgia’s capital city, Tbilisi. All of the trains leaving from this terminal are operated by Georgian Railways. You can travel to Tbilisi from Kutaisi in around 5.5 hours by taking the train #18, which departs from Kutaisi I station. There are also daily express trains.
The train starts its trip at 08.50 every morning and arrives at Tbilisi in 6 hours. This train also stops in Mtskheta, the former capital of Georgia. There are also regular bus trips from Didube bus station in Didube, where the metro station in Tbilisi is located at, to Kutaisi. Price for this bus trip is only 10 Lari.
In addition to the marshrutkas and buses, you may also consider using car rental services or taxis for transportation to city centre from the Kutaisi Airport.
After arriving at the Kutaisi Airport, take the exit from the arrival terminal and proceed to the bus stops. As well as the buses, marshrutkas also depart to Kutiasi city centre or suburbans from the bus stops at the area in front of the terminal building. Marshrutka drivers may not accept paying with dollar or euro, so do not forget to stop by the exchange office in the airport just in case.
Marshrutkas leaving from Kutaisi Airport go directly to the Kutaisi bus station just behind McDonalds. Marshrutkas, which run in every 20 minutes, provide transportation services to the town of Samtredia from Kutaisi Airport for a fee of 2 Lari. There are also vehicles named ‘direct marshrutkas’, which have a fare of 5 Lari. These direct marshrutkas will take you to your destination as well.
There are direct marshrutkas running between Kutaisi Airport and Tbilisi, and fare is currently 20 Lari. Likewise, there are also marshrutkas going directly to Batumi, another major city of Georgia, for a fare of 18 Lari.
Bus service timetable are usually updated according to the flights' arrival times. You don’t need to worry if you forget to get Georgian currency, as it is possible to buy bus tickets with euro or dollar as well.
Taxi is the most economical vehicle you can use for traveling to the city centre from Kutaisi Airport. Traveling to the city centre from the airport by taxi costs around 25 Lari, but you can drop the price to 20 Lari by bargaining with the taxi driver.
The only thing that you need to do to go city centre from Kutaisi Airport by your rented car is to take the highway, which passes right by the airport, and follow the direction signs to the city. You can reach the city centre in around 20 minutes by your vehicle.
As well as you can find several rent a car services at the exit of Kutaisi Airport terminal, you can also make benefit of discounts by making an online reservation. People visiting Kutaisi often prefer renting a car as they usually include visiting other Georgian cities such as Tbilisi and Batumi in their travel plans.