Last year, airports in Varna and Burgas welcomed 5.5 million passengers and more than 38,000 flights to 103 airlines. The growth of the airports of Fraport Bulgaria was 13% and in the last 3 years the traffic of the two airports increased by 50% to 60%, the concession company announced.

Money.bg made it clear that 2018 was certainly the strongest in the history of both airports. "After such a successful year, the challenge ahead of us is to maintain growth levels, and it will not be easy as airlines rethink their routes because of rising oil prices, of course we will continue to attract partners and take we strive to develop traffic outside the active season, "said Ulrich Hepe, CEO of Fraport Bulgaria. The company said in response to money.bg's questions that "the attractiveness of Bulgaria as a tourist destination and the purchasing power of the local population, which is traveling more and more", among the most important factors for the rise of the number of passengers.

Although seasonality is a challenge for the concessionaire at sea airports, Fraport has achieved growth outside the season in Burgas last year. In October, for example, Burgas Airport posted a passenger growth of 102%, in November 17% and in December 14%, compared to 2017. Success factor is the increased demand for major markets such as Poland, Germany and Russia, as well as the company's success in attracting low-cost companies. In 2018 from Burgas Airport flights of 78 airlines were made to 143 destinations in 32 countries. 3.3 million passengers were served at the airport, up 10% from 2017. Most passengers arrived from Russia (567,213), Great Britain (513,974), Germany (500,213), Poland (461,836), Czech Republic 276 642), Israel (145 557), Slovakia (114 920), Norway (71 976), Belarus (67 691) and Denmark (51 351). For those departing from Burgas, leading destinations were Moscow, London, Prague, Tel Aviv and Katowice.

The new routes last year were 14 and the new airlines 10. Additional routes are expected in 2019. The low-cost British airline Jet2.com, for example, announced that in May 2019 it will connect Burgas with nine airports in the United Kingdom: Belfast International , Birmingham, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds Bradford, London Stansted, Manchester and Newcastle.

Varna Airport

In 2018 from Varna airport flights of 74 airlines were made to 115 destinations in 39 countries. 2.3 million passengers were served, up 16% from 2017. Most passengers arrived from Germany (596,930), Bulgaria (287,458), Russia (226,608), Poland (193,337), Great Britain (151,626), Israel (110,226), Austria (107,822) 84 311), the Czech Republic (66 228) and Belgium (59 979). For those departing from Varna, leading destinations were Sofia, Moscow, London, Tel Aviv and Vienna.

The new routes last year were 6 and the new airlines 10. The development will continue this year, after Wizz Air announced in December that it was based on a second airplane in the sea capital. As a result, the low-cost airline will update the frequency of some of its eight current destinations, and from July will add 6 new ones: Paris, Liverpool, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Cologne and Berlin. Another good news for 2019 comes from the Polish national carrier LOT, which starts on June 9 to offer regular flights between Varna and Warsaw. The service will be made once a week on Sundays.

In 2019 the development of the Black Sea airports will continue with new investments by Fraport Bulgaria. The project for the expansion and rehabilitation of the aircraft platform was launched in Varna. In the second half of this year, the design of a new Fire Safety Service building, as well as the rehabilitation project for the taxiway "Eco", will begin. The two projects are expected to be realized between 2020 and 2021. During the same period, rehabilitation of the Bravo and Delta taxiways will be realized after the repair of the Alfa taxiway in 2018 "- one of the most used paths, with a length of nearly 800 meters. Also, in 2019 on the territory of Burgas Airport will continue the implementation of the projects related to the expansion and rehabilitation of the platform, expansion of the passenger terminal as well as the construction of the second extension of the parking zone.

"We strive to deal with the capacity constraints at Burgas airport and take on the growing traffic," said Ulrich Hepe. "We continue to invest to ensure the best conditions not only for all carriers but also for airport visitors." In 2018 we tried to improve the stay and satisfaction of passengers and offered an even greater variety of services, such as Victoria Secret's only official stores, we will continue to work in the same direction in 2019, "the executive director of the concession company added. During the first 12 years of its concession, Fraport Bulgaria invested BGN 390 million, as a result of which Black Sea airports can boast that they meet the highest European safety standards according to EASA, the European Aviation Safety Agency, which standardizes the activities airports in the areas of safety and resource efficiency.

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