Burgas Airport has served a record 40,000 passengers in one day. The top achievement was achieved on Friday, July 20, which became the strongest day in the history of the airport. By comparison, the population of Vidin, according to official NSI data, is 42 000 people. The airport served a total of 122 flights on the day in question, which is close to 50% above the average for the June-July 2018 period, according to the airport operator Fraport Twin Star Airport Management provided to Money.bg.
The summer season is usually strong for Burgas airport, which takes an average of 84 take-off and landing planes per day. Passenger traffic continues to increase - the airport has served 1 557 000 passengers since the beginning of the year, up 13% over the same period in 2017. Burgas Airport serves scheduled and charter flights to more than 136 destinations in 34 countries, airlines. About 10% is the share of low-cost airlines. The most popular route remains Burgas-Moscow.
The airport in Bourgas has set another record - it is expected this year for the first time to meet 3 million passengers, said Ulrich Heppe, the executive director of the airport operator, in a recent statement. A major challenge remains the seasonality of flights, one of the company's main goals being to increase traffic in spring, autumn and winter.
Fraport Twin Star Airport Management continues to actively invest in the refurbishment and modernization of the airport. By the end of the year BGN 9.7 million will be invested, the company said. The Bulgarian-German company has been an airline concessionaire for more than a decade and for the period 2006-2017 it has invested more than 178 million leva.
Growth of tourists in Bulgaria from the main markets
The year so far has been successful not only for the Burgas airport but also for the Bulgarian tourism. Foreign tourists in Bulgaria grew by 11.1% on an annual basis, reaching 2 436 394 in the period January - May 2018. More than half of them come for recreation and vacation, increasing by 10.4%, according to the Ministry of Tourism . Most tourists arrive from the neighboring countries - Romania, Greece, Turkey, Macedonia and Serbia. Immediately after them are the visitors from Germany and the UK.
One traditionally large group of tourists - Russia is only 9th, with tourists dropping 9.7% annually. The explanation for this is simple - the Russians are returning to the holidays in their favorite Turkey and Egypt, instead of Bulgaria. However, more and more Ukrainians come in their place (14.3% more for the period). A positive trend is the increase of visitors from 9 out of the 10 strongest market for Bulgarian tourism. The only exception is the Russians. Revenues from international tourists for Bulgaria in the period January - April 2018 also increased by 10.8% to reach over BGN 1.1 billion.
