2024-09-12 09:58:05
So far, great interest has been expressed in an air line to Istanbul, Frankfurt is also being negotiated
Burgas will add airplane seats to secure new connections by air to various points in Europe.
This was hinted at by the Deputy Mayor for Tourism, Manol Todorov, during the symposium of the Bulgarian Union of Balneology and Spa Tourism, which the city hosted.
In the last year, the authorities and citizens in Burgas have complained that
the airport operates only seasonally and almost closes in winter
with only two flights a week to London. Therefore, in March they decided to create a special fund to turn the city into a year-round destination. The plans also included the creation of its own airline “Burgas Air” to operate the flights.
However, according to Manol Todorov, this idea has been dropped and the money from the fund will be used to pay extra for the empty airplane seats to cover possible losses of the airlines. Marketing and advertising campaigns will be financed separately.
“The idea of creating an airline was not the municipality’s, but was launched by the regional administration. However, implementation requires a lot of time, and we need quick solutions, that’s why we haven’t focused on it,” explained to “24 Chasa” the deputy Mayor Todorov.
According to preliminary calculations, BGN 1.3 million should be received in the fund, with which it can operate annually to ensure new air connections to Burgas. The money will come from the budgets of the 13 municipalities that participated in the project, with the largest contribution going to Burgas.
The concessionaire of the city’s airport – “Fraport Twinstar Airport Management” – participated in the fund with a penny, an invitation was also sent to the Ministry of Tourism.
For now, it is not clear to which new points in Europe will be flown year-round
from and to Burgas and since when.
“It will become clear in 2-3 months. We are conducting negotiations, but I cannot give specifics,” said Todorov.
He revealed that Turkish Airlines showed great interest in opening a regular airline from Istanbul to Burgas because of the proximity of the Black Sea city to the Bosphorus. By plane, the distance from Burgas to Istanbul will be taken in less than an hour.
Now there are flights from Sarafovo airport to Turkey only in the summer, and with charters only to Antalya.
According to sources from the municipality, at the moment negotiations were being held with several airlines to two or three more destinations in Western Europe. One was for flights to a large city in Germany, where there is the largest Bulgarian diaspora.
“For destinations to Western Europe, we are negotiating with low-cost companies, but while the negotiations are going on, I cannot announce the names”, specified Todorov.
But he confirmed that one of the new destinations to which it is possible to fly from and to Burgas all year round is Frankfurt am Main, from where there are connections by air to the whole world.
The local authority also wanted to keep the airline to Sofia, which was restored this year after several years of interruption. The idea with the year-round flights is to stimulate the economy of Burgas region by bringing tourists from Europe and off-season.
At the same time, citizens of Burgas will have
direct access to various points of Stariya
continent instead of flying to Sofia and Varna
Such a connection also exists in the summer with charters to almost all of Europe except Spain, Italy and France, regular flights are also made to Krakow, Vienna and Budapest, but in the cold months the airlines stop them.
On the other hand, there are flights from Varna to many countries in Europe all year round, which made the people of Burgas jealous of the concessionaire for tolerating the northern Black Sea city.
This year, the Burgas airport reported an increase in the number of tourists served compared to last year, but the increase is still far from the record 3 million passengers in the previous year 2019.
Until September 1, 1.2 passengers passed through Sarafovo airport, but a considerable number of foreigners are expected in September and October. The last charter to Burgas is on October 25 from Antalya.