Mukhrani Airport

Military abandonment and geopolitical change. The airfield was a Soviet Air Force base that became defunct after the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Georgia and the collapse of the USSR. The newly independent Georgian state lacked the financial resources and strategic need to maintain the facility as an active airbase.

The airfield is defunct and its aviation infrastructure, including the main runway and taxiways, is in a state of severe disrepair. The site has been repurposed by the Georgian Armed Forces and now hosts the Mukhrani Training Area. It serves as a major training center for Georgian ground forces, including the Special Operations Forces, and is used for various tactical exercises. While the original layout of the airbase is still visible from satellite imagery, it is no longer used for aviation.

During the Cold War, Mukhrani was a key Soviet Air Force base within the Transcaucasian Military District. Its primary role was air defense for the southern flank of the USSR. The base was home to the 176th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (176 GvIAP), a decorated unit that operated various interceptor aircraft over the decades. In its final years of operation, the regiment flew MiG-23MLD 'Flogger-K' fighters. The base's strategic location made it an important asset for projecting Soviet air power in the Caucasus region.

There are no known official plans or credible prospects for reopening Mukhrani Airport for either military or civilian aviation. The prohibitive cost of restoring the dilapidated infrastructure, combined with its current vital use as a ground forces training center, makes its reactivation as an airfield highly improbable in the foreseeable future.