Burgas Airport

Burgas Airport Template:Airport codes is an international airport in southeast Bulgaria and the second largest in the country. It is near the northern neighbourhood of Sarafovo approximately Template:Convert from the city centre.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The airport principally serves Burgas and other seaside resorts of the Bulgarian south coast which attract many tourists during the summer leisure season.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

Early years

On 27 June 1937, the French company CIDNA (now part of Air France), chose the area of Burgas Airport to build a radio station and signed a contract with the Bulgarian government for its use. The contract expressly stated that the staff of Burgas Airport would be Bulgarian.Template:Citation needed

On 29 June 1947, Balkan Bulgarian Airlines began domestic flights between Burgas, Plovdiv and Sofia, using Junkers Ju 52/3m aircraft. In the 1950s and 1960s, the airport was expanded and modernized by building a concrete runway. In 1970, the airport became an international airport serving 45 destinations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Development since the 2000s

Burgas airport has been subject to heavy traffic following the growing tourism industry in Bulgaria and was in need of major investments to expand and handle projected passenger traffic. In June 2006, the Bulgarian Government awarded Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide a 40-year-long concession on both Varna and Burgas airports in return for investments exceeding €500 million.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Fraport entered into partnership with Varna-based company BM Star. The concessionaire has vowed to inject 403 million Euro in the two airports during the lifespan of the arrangement. Fraport will pay 60% of an investment of EUR 403 million over the 35-year concession. The investments will be made in new terminal facilities, vehicles and equipment and expanding apron areas at the airports over the life of the concession.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Facilities

File:Bojseenfromthesky.JPG

Aerial view of Burgas Airport

Terminals

In December 2011, construction work began on the new Terminal 2. The new terminal was planned to have a capacity of 2,700,000 passengers and an area of Template:Convert. The new terminal building was designed so that it can be easily upgraded to further increase capacity, if necessary. Construction of the new terminal was completed in 2013, and has been operational since December 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Terminal 2 replaced the older Terminal 1, which was built in the 1950s and expanded in the early 1990s, and now handles all of the airport's passenger traffic. The terminal is equipped with 31 check-in counters, three boarding-card checkpoints, nine security lanes and eight departure gates. The arrivals area (divided into Schengen and non-Schengen zones) has 12 immigration stations and four baggage carousels (one Template:Convert long and three Template:Convert long carousels). Passenger amenities include Template:Convert of space dedicated to shopping and Template:Convert for food and beverage (F&B) services. There is also a Template:Convert outdoor courtyard.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Runway

The runway is Template:Convert long.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 31 October 2016, reconstruction and rehabilitation of taxiways began at Burgas airport. The project includes a complete rehabilitation of 3,500 square meters of taxiway "H", complete rehabilitation of taxiway "A", as well as area adjacent to the runway holding point. The control and monitoring system for airfield lighting and approach light equipment will be replaced. The total investment of Fraport Twin Star Airport Management in these projects is over BGN 12 million.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Burgas Airport:<ref>burgas-airport.bg – Destinations Template:Webarchive retrieved 10 September 2020</ref>

Statistics

Traffic

Traffic at Burgas Airport

Year	Passengers	Change	Cargo (tonnes)	Change	Aircraft movements	Change
1998	433,024	Template:Nochange	39	Template:NochangeTemplate:Sort	6,092	Template:NochangeTemplate:Sort
1999	339,297	Template:Decrease21.6%	31	Template:Decrease20.5%	5,722	Template:Decrease6.1%
2000	398,015	Template:Increase17.3%	36	Template:Increase16.1%	5,224	Template:Decrease8.7%
2001	594,396	Template:Increase49.3%	53	Template:Increase47.2%	5,964	Template:Increase14.2%
2002	767,476	Template:Increase29.1%	925	Template:Decrease1645.3%	6,708	Template:Increase12.5%
2003	1,026,134	Template:Increase33.7%	635	Template:Decrease31.4%	8,963	Template:Increase33.6%
2004	1,352,173	Template:Increase31.8%	899	Template:Increase41.6%	11,199	Template:Increase25.0%
2005	1,556,091	Template:Increase15.1%	122	Template:Decrease86.4%	12,496	Template:Increase11.6%
2006	1,802,135	Template:Increase15.8%	405	Template:Increase232.0%	14,429	Template:Increase15.5%
2007	1,941,311	Template:Increase7.7%	2,051	Template:Increase406.4%	16,114	Template:Increase11.7%
2008	1,925,266	Template:Decrease0.8%	1,338	Template:Decrease34.8%	16,868	Template:Increase4.7%
2009	1,689,866	Template:Decrease12.3%	2,597	Template:Increase94.1%	15,636	Template:Decrease7.3%
2010	1,874,562	Template:Increase10.9%	5,654	Template:Increase117.7%	15,775	Template:Increase0.9%
2011	2,229,045	Template:Increase19.0%	5,991	Template:Increase6.0%	19,215	Template:Increase19.0%
2012	2,358,159	Template:Increase5.8%	2,281	Template:Decrease61.9%	18,856	Template:Decrease1.9%
2013	2,480,099	Template:Increase5.1%	2,625	Template:Increase15.1%	18,447	Template:Decrease2.2%
2014	2,522,319	Template:Increase2.6%	5,354	Template:Increase104.0%	18,869	Template:Increase0.8%<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2015	2,360,320	Template:Decrease6.7%	13,272	Template:Increase147.9%	18,271	Template:Decrease4.3%
2016	2,878,883	Template:Increase22.0%	10,877	Template:Decrease18.0%	20,873	Template:Increase14.2%
2017	2,982,339	Template:Increase3.6%	14,300	Template:Increase31.5%	21,466	Template:Increase2.8%
2018	3,277,229	Template:Increase9.9%	8,429	Template:Decrease41.1%	23,284	Template:Increase8.5%
2019	2,885,776	Template:Decrease12.0%	4,747	Template:Decrease43.7%	19,954	Template:Decrease14.3%
2020	424,252	Template:Decrease85.3%	3,889	Template:Decrease18.1%	4,079	Template:Decrease79.6%
2021	955,402	Template:Increase125.2%	4,669	Template:Increase20.1%	8,295	Template:Increase103.3%
2022	1,643,581	Template:Increase72.2%	6,244	Template:Increase33.7%	12,293	Template:Increase48.2%
2023	1,848,058	Template:Increase12.4%	2,556	Template:Decrease59.1%	13,174	Template:Increase7.2%<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2024	1,808,236	Template:Decrease-2.2%	655	Template:Decrease-74.4%	12,902	Template:Decrease-2.1%<ref name="auto2">Template:Cite web</ref>

Top 5 Markets (2023) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Rank	Destination	Passengers
1	Template:Flagicon Poland	473,868
2	Template:Flagicon United Kingdom	376,570
3	Template:Flagicon Czech Republic	206,810
4	Template:Flagicon Germany	159,440
5	Template:Flagicon Israel	88,294

Top 5 Cities (2023) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Rank	Destination	Passengers
1	London	142,809
2	Warsaw	128,778
3	Katowice	112,569
4	Prague	109,985
5	Tel Aviv	88,294

Ground transportation

Bus

Line No 15 connects Burgas airport with Burgas South bus station.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Intercity buses from Burgas to Pomorie, Aheloy, Ravda, Nessebar and Sunny beach also stop close to the airport. The stop is located at the roundabout on the main road across from the terminal building.

Taxi

The Taxi Piazza is located in front of the Arrivals Terminal at Burgas Airport. A taxi ride from Burgas Airport to the city takes approximately 15 minutes, depending on the traffic intensity. The prices start from €25 depending where in the city you need to go.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Better source needed

Parking

Passengers and guests arriving at Burgas Airport with their personal car can use the commercially available parking lot, located in the immediate vicinity of the main terminal building. The parking lot has 199 car spaces available and is accessible 24 hours a day.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Incidents and accidents

• On 18 July 2012, an attack at Burgas Airport occurred. A suicide bomber boarded a bus which was transporting Israeli citizens to the Bulgarian resort of Sunny Beach located in Burgas, the perpetrator detonated the bomb killing six civilians (and one suicide bomber) as well as injuring 32 people. The attack resulted in the closure of Burgas Airport for over 30 hours, resulting in the majority of flights diverting to Varna Airport.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• List of airports in Bulgaria
• List of airlines of Bulgaria
• List of the busiest airports in Europe
• 2012 Burgas bus bombing

External links

• Template:Official website