site.bta Sofia Airport Is One of World's Few Airports Using Category III B Instrument Landing System

Sofia Airport Is One of World's Few Airports Using Category III B Instrument Landing System

Sofia, December 17 (BTA) - Sofia Airport is one of few airports in the world that can operate in low visibility conditions requiring a category III B (CAT III B) instrument landing system, the facility's Executive Director Hristo Shterionov said in a BTA interview. Only planes which have special equipment and whose crews possess special skills can perform a CAT III B landing, Shterionov said.

According to him, Sofia Airport has handled 6.6 per cent more scheduled-service passengers so far in 2015 than in the like period in 2014, which is due to the ever increasing number of air travellers on international routes. The facility serviced 3,815,158 passengers in 2014, compared with 3,504,326 in 2013 and 3,467,455 in 2012. In 2015, passenger traffic via the Airport's Terminal 1 has risen by 18 per cent and via Terminal 2 by 1 per cent.

Chartered flights to/from Sofia Airport have decreased by 5 per cent, continuing the downward trend of recent years, Shterionov said. At the same time, a growing number of individual (non-package) tourists use scheduled air services taking them straight to their destinations in Bulgaria.

In 2016, the Airport will launch six new direct year-round services. Wizz Air will fly to Bristol (UK), beginning in January, and to Alicante (Spain), Oslo/Torp (Norway) and Hamburg/Luebeck (Germany), beginning at the end of March. These four new services will operate twice-weekly flights from Terminal 1.

Europe's number one low-cost air carrier, Ryanair, will join Sofia Airport list of airlines in April, Shterionov said. The Irish carrier will fly to Pisa (Italy), which is a new destination for travellers from Sofia Airport.

As the passenger flow and the number of flights have increased, the Airport has taken steps to upgrade its infrastructure. An extension of the anti-icing area for eastward-bound aircraft is nearing completion. It will increase the area's service capacity threefold and will help minimize flight delays. The platform lighting system is being renovated and automatized, which will reduce electricity costs by 50 per cent. The lightning protection and earthing systems at the railway terminal are being reconstructed, Shterionov said.