Alternative airports are one of the least-known ways to fly cheaply. A single city or region often has several airports, and the price between them can differ twofold or more. It's the same in Georgia: flying from Kutaisi is frequently far cheaper than from Tbilisi. This guide teaches you how to find the cheapest route by comparing nearby airports.
🇬🇪 Kutaisi or Tbilisi — your departure airport
Leaving Georgia, you have two main options: Tbilisi (TBS) and Kutaisi (KUT). Kutaisi is Wizz Air's low-cost base and flies direct and cheap to dozens of European cities — often at half the TBS price.
In return, getting to Kutaisi costs time and money (~3.5-4 hours from Tbilisi). So do the math like this: ticket saving minus transport to Kutaisi. If the saving is still large, KUT wins.
Frequent Wizz Air flyers save extra with a Discount Club membership — see the Wizz Air Discount Club guide.
🛬 Alternative arrival airports
The same logic applies at your destination. Many big cities have more than one airport, and low-cost flights often land you at the more distant, cheaper one:
- Milan: Bergamo (BGY) for low-cost vs Malpensa (MXP) / Linate
- London: Luton / Stansted vs Heathrow (LHR)
- Paris: Beauvais (BVA) vs Charles de Gaulle (CDG)
- Istanbul: Sabiha Gökçen (SAW) vs Istanbul (IST)
- Rome: Ciampino vs Fiumicino (FCO)
🧮 Hidden costs — before you buy
A cheap airport is often far from the center, so the airport-to-center transfer eats into the saving. Always add the cost of reaching downtown to the ticket price — for detailed fares see the airport to city center European guide.
Also factor in time: on a late-night arrival, transport from a distant airport may have stopped running, and a taxi can swallow the whole saving.
Always add baggage fees to a low-cost fare — that is often what turns a "cheap" ticket expensive.
📅 How to compare routes correctly
- Compare every airport of the same city separately
- For departure, try both — TBS and KUT — and add the transfer cost
- Play with flexible dates — shifting a day lowers the price
- Compare direct vs connecting — see direct or connecting: where you save
💡 Save more with Travel365
The Travel365 price calendar shows the cheapest days of the month, and flight search lets you compare different airports. For more ideas see the cheapest European cities from Georgia and budget travel from Georgia.
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