Shota Rustaveli Tbilisi International Airport, is the main international airport in Georgia, located 17 km (11 mi) southeast of the capital Tbilisi.nThe first airport terminal building was constructed in 1952. Designed by the architect V. Beridze in the style of Stalinist architecture the building featured a floor plan with symmetric axes and a monumental risalit in the form of a portico. The two side wings featured blind arcades in giant order. A new terminal building was finished in 1990, designed in the International style.In 1981 Tbilisi airport was the 12th largest airport in the Soviet Union, with 1,478,000 passengers on so-called central lines, that is on flights connecting Tbilisi with cities in other Soviet republics.In 1998, the number of passengers had shrunk to 230,000 per year.