Bulgaria's Coastal Burgas Welcomes First Batch of Tourists for 2008

Novinite.com

The airport at the Black sea town of Burgas welcomed on Sunday with an official ceremony the first group of foreign tourists for the new season aboard a low-cost Sterling airlines plane.

The passengers took off from the airport in Copenhagen and after landing in Burgas were transported to the Sunny Beach resort.

The airports in Bulgaria's Black Sea cities of Varna and Burgas processed more than 3,4 million passengers last year, shows data of German firm Fraport, who owns a 35-year concession for the two airports.

The Burgas airport processed a record-high 1,95 million passengers, a 7,3 % increase compared to 2006, while Varna's 1,5 million passengers meant a 2,6% drop over last year.

Fraport's two Bulgarian international airports accounted for 4,4% of its total 75,6 million passengers processed by the company last year, with the Frankfurt international airport alone serving 54,1 million.

Fraport and Bulgarian firm BM Star won the 35 years concession in 2006, pledging to invest EUR 403 M in new terminals, expansion and equipment over that period.