Second operator of Sofia airport to be picked on competitive basis

Dnevnik daily, 15 May 2007

The committee made up of the airlines using the Sofia airport will launch a competitive procedure to select a second airport operator, said Sofia airport executive director Plamen Stanchev.

The committee will be incorporated in late May by Hemus Air, Bulgaria Air, Air France, the Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa and the low-cost carriers using the Sofia airport.

The move aims to satisfy the EU directive on the access to the groundhandling market at community airports whose traffic has been not less than 2 million passenger movements or 50 000 tons of freight.

The Sofia airport is expected to record 2.6 mln passenger movements in 2007.

Bulgaria's Civil Aviation Authority has so far licensed Militzer&Munch, Air Sofia, Hemus Air and Swissport to provide ground-handling service on the territory of the Sofia airport.

The new operator will be charged for the use of the Sofia airport infrastructure according to transparent and cost-based tariffs set by the transport ministry.

Stanchev said candidate operators that are connected entities or already have 25% of the groundhandling market of a particular airport will not be eligible for a licence. This is the case with Hemus Air and Bulgaria Air which have the same owner.

Hemus Air has a self-handling licence while Bulgaria Air has applied for a groundhandling licence.