site.btaVarna Airport Expects 24% Increase in Passengers This Year

The passengers to be handled by Varna Airport in 2023 are expected to increase by 24% compared with 2022, the seaside airport's Executive Director Dimitar Kostadinov said on Wednesday.

Kostadinov and Varna Mayor Ivan Portnih welcomed the airport's passenger No. 1,000,001 for this year. The Executive Director predicted that the number will reach 1.8 million by the end of the year. It will be about 20% lower than in the pre-pandemic 2019, the strongest year for Bulgarian tourism.

Passenger One Million and One was logistics manager Milena Giusto, who arrived from Vienna with her 11-year-old daughter Rebecca. Milena received an official welcome, complete with flowers and gifts.

This year, low-cost carrier traffic is more than half of total air traffic via Varna Airport for the first time in history, Kostadinov said. According to him, charter flight programmes account for 20% of traffic, compared with 70% in the past. As usual, passengers from Germany are most numerous. Their number is expected to reach 600,000 by the end of the year, which will be commensurate with the 2019 level. Travellers from Poland and Austria have increased from 2022.

Kostadinov went on to say that Varna Airport has started drafting its winter programme. Fourteen winter destinations have been confirmed so far, and the number may reach last year's level of 17.

The airport is carrying on with the implementation of its investment programme. Three taxiways are to be renovated and a photovoltaic solar power station is to be built. Technological upgrades are underway. They are relatively modest and not so visible to passengers, but they are important for the smooth operation of the airport and the quality of its services, Kostadinov said.