Eerie photos of an abandoned airport that hasn't been touched in 25 years
Abkhazia's airport has gone virtually untouched since the early 1990s. The airport is closed for international traffic because it's not recognized by the International Civil Aviation Organization.
There's a non-functioning plane still sitting in the abandoned runway. The Yak-40 aircraft carried former Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze to Abkhazia in March 1993 to take charge of Georgian forces in the region.
The decaying entrance to the airport was a sign of what was to come.
Here's what I found inside the airport, which was heavily damaged and eventually abandoned during the conflict with Georgia.
Concrete staircases leading to an empty upper level were some of the only structures I saw standing.
Here's the view from the top floor.
The airport was riddled with landmines during the war. It wasn't until 2003 that all landmines and other explosive devices were declared to have been removed from the airport by the HALO Trust.
Source: The HALO Trust
The airport is inaccessible to the public, but luckily, a few military personnel were willing to show me around.
Russia is one of the few countries to recognize Abkhazia as a sovereign state, but even Russian planes can't fly to the airport because of sanctions by the International Air Transport Association.
This storage area was visibly damaged and was in the worst shape of the areas I saw.
You can see the old baggage carousels where arriving passengers once picked up their luggage.
The Abkhazian president said in 2006 that he hoped the airport would resume operations soon, but apart from a visit from the Russian foreign minister in 2008, that hasn't materialized.
Source: Sergey Bagapsh, Reuters
And it isn't likely the airport will be used any time soon.
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