An entourage of Sochi officials comprising of representatives from the central and local governments, the Paralympics and Winter Games organizers, which is headed by the President and CEO of Sochi 2014, Krasnodar’s governor and the Mayor of Sochi are participating in the International Paralympics Committee (IPC) Observer Program in Beijing, China.
The Sochi 2014 officials will be trained through a series of seminars and workshops amongst Beijing organizers. This program is expected to hone their skills pertaining to construction and urban planning, in preparation for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.

The Russian and Armenian Presidents met in the Black Sea resort in Sochi to negotiate about
the current situation in the Caucasus and potential large scale bilateral cooperation
projects. These projects, comprising of the transport and processing industries, are
expected to multiply the Russian capital investment in Armenia within the next few years.

The AirUnion alliance of airlines in Russia continues to face numerous problems, with over 1500 passengers stranded in most Russian airports. AirUnion reported that the delays in  departure and arrival of flights in several airports was largely due to the aviation fuel crisis.  Dalavia Airlines informed airport authorities that two of its flights which are due to arrive in Sochi, would be delayed by over three days. Most passengers have had to book tickets with other available airlines to reach their respective destinations.

China’s President, Hu Jintao reassured his Russian counterpart that China will continue to lend its support for Russia to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Amidst the many criticisms from some western political leaders, China’s support to “develop further cooperation with Russia on the organization of the Winter Olympics to be held in 2014″ comes as a breath of fresh air.

Russia welcomed its Olympics heroes who returned home from Beijing on Monday. Hundreds of fans,supporters and families of the athletes turned up at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport to greet them with flowers and gifts. Russian athletes have brought home 23 gold, 21 silver and 28 bronze medals, which they won for their spectacular performances. Putin has sent his congratulations to the athletes and their families, promising to focus on implementing further developments in terms of sponsorships and infrastructure for skilled athletes. We at Sochi Airport are proud of our athletes for their fantastic feat

The Sochi Olympics chief, Dmitry Chrnyshenko has denied rumours that the recent conflicts are affecting the Sochi Winter Olympics which is to be held in 2014. The IOC chief inspector, Jean-Claude Killy confirmed it by adding that he is confident that the Winter Olympics is going to be a great success and a magnificent spectacle.

Putin’s favorite ski resort, the Crimean resort will be the venue for the 2014 Winter
Olympics. It is reported that he was very particular about Sochi playing the host for
the 2014 Olympics, to the extent that he made a trip to Guatemala City in 2007 to
apply pressure on the IOC into opting for Sochi instead of Korea. He succeeded in his
mission but only because he agreed to some supposedly explicit conditions that
includes “guaranteed snowfall” and that the roads will be “traffic free”. Cheers to Putin for his efforts!

Sochi international Airport has increased its passenger traffic by more than 23.9% in 2008,
when compared to last year. Between January and July this year, air carriers reportedly
executed 6,787 flights. While a 53.5% increase was observed for International flights,
passenger traffic for domestic airlines escalated by 9%. With efforts to promote tourism in
Sochi reaping gradual positive results, officials are hoping that the recent conflicts would
not affect these statistics.

Georgia has remained loyal to the acting contract in regards to supplying electricity to Russia and Sochi, despite having ruffled each other’s feathers recently. Reports of a possibility of disrution of electricity supply from Georgia was doing its rounds last week.
Further reports, this time from the ITAR-TASS, revealed that all flights to Europe, except to Turkey and Ukraine from Tbilisi’s airport,  have been cancelled. Flights to Russia have also been cancelled. This situation has brought air traffic to a standstill in these regions, leaving many travelers stranded.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has expressed dissatisfaction over the building projects in Olympic sites by criticizing the lack of coordination that led to some major flaws. This comment, made by the Russian Prime Minister during a meeting on environmental requirements for the 2014 Olympics, has been raising some serious concerns over this matter amongst the officials and respective committees.