Summer months are traditionally favorite among owners of Bulgaria’s airports, and the airlines. Because of the upcoming Easter holidays in April and the early May festivities, as well as the looming on the horizon summer holidays, the flow of passengers is increasing exponentially and it will not be an exaggeration to say that revenues in this tense period provide the largest share of the profits of carriers for the whole year. Therefore, the preparation is more and more hectic – new and additional lines are opened, huge promotions are advertised, repair works to runways and terminals are being completed…
The beginning this year was given by the capital airport, and after a 15-year break
the air connection between Sofia and Belgrade
was restored. The event last week was attended by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Daniel Papazoff whose expectations were that by the end of 2014 over 30,000 people will have taken advantage of the new destination. The route between the two Balkan capitals will be operated by ATR 72 aircraft of the airline Air Serbia and flights will be carried out daily from Terminal 2. Judging from what is on the website of the Serbian company, a return ticket will cost 170 euros, all taxes included.
Although at first sight this line does not seem quite so important, it hides a very serious potential. In August 2013 one of the biggest players in the air market – the national airline of the United Arab Emirates Etihad Airways, acquired 49% of the then struggling Serbian national carrier JAT Airways and renamed it Air Serbia. The Arabs took over the management for five years and committed to invest USD200 million. A number of lines to Abu Dhabi and other destinations in the Middle East were opened, including ones the Bulgarian tourism and business can benefit from.
The first flight of Air Serbia was practically an opening of the summer flight schedule at Sofia Airport, which entered into force on March 30. It offers convenient direct connections to 47 international airports served by 22 airlines. The most visited city again is London, followed by Vienna, Milan, Paris, Varna, Berlin, Frankfurt, Brussels, Moscow, Rome, Madrid and Barcelona.
Later in the season two new regular route will be opened.
From mid-May Wizz Air will offer twice-weekly direct services to the Swedish historical town of Malm?. They will be on Friday and Monday, the price for the two-way ticket is about 200 levs, but with the need to pay for extra baggage, if it exceeds 32 kg, lounge suitcase should be of a certain size and check-in should be done online.
At the same time the low-cost carrier will launch direct line to the Israeli capital Tel Aviv. The planes will take off on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and tickets are already on sale on the website of Wizz Air, a roundtrip will cost about 240 levs. But in this case the mentioned restrictions will apply.
„The commitment of Wizz Air Bulgaria is emphasized once again with the new route. Our hope is that this line will be at least as popular as our other 16 sections of the Bulgarian network, and that Sofia will take advantage of the tourist flow from Israel which will stimulate job creation in the tourism and service sectors. On the other hand, we are convinced that the Bulgarian customers will appreciate the beautiful Tel Aviv throughout the year and it will become popular to book a long weekend at this warm and friendly city,“ said during the presentation of the route Wizz Air spokesman Danny De Carvalho.
The largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe announced the opening of another new line – Malta – Sofia, which will be operated by June 20. The courses will be twice a week – on Mondays and Fridays, and prices start from 40 euros. Regular schedule of Sofia Airport in June will be filled with a direct link to another Balkan capital – Zagreb. The flights will be carried out by the Croatian low-cost carrier Dalmatian on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Most bustling will be
the airports in Varna and Bourgas,
that are managed by the concessionaire Fraport Twin Star Airport Management. In 2013 Burgas airport has achieved a new record in its history, as it handled nearly 2.5 million passengers. Most of them were Russians, as their number reached 640,000, an increase of 20% compared to the previous year. After them in rank came the tourists from the UK and Germany. Varna Airport reported 1.32 million passengers, on its turn.
Surely the number of passengers and their comfort will increase significantly, as both seaside airports already have modern terminals. The new facility opened in Varna at the end of August last year and the one in Bourgas started functioning in early December and until this summer they are projected to reach their full capacity.
In Varna the summer season will be opened
via a charter from Varna to Rhodes for Easter.
The courses will be run under the brand Varna Fly, which have joined the services of the Varna tour operators AB Travel, Goranov B and Euro Varna.
A total of 45 airlines have declared their willingness to perform charter flights to and from Varna Airport. By the end of April requests for another ten are expected and the interesting fact is that this summer season the airport will perform by 100 flights more to and from Germany. There is no decrease in the number of flights to and from Russia and Ukraine, said the director of the airport in Varna, Dimitar Kostadinov.
The BANKER
