site.btaUPDATED Mayors Insist that Concession Contract for Burgas Airport Be Revised

Mayors from the South-Eastern region are demanding a review of the concession contract for Burgas Airport and for clauses in the contract that would oblige the concessionaire company to provide year-round flights at the Burgas airport. On Tuesday, they participated in a meeting of the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria, where they discussed the issue of the lack of year-round flights at the Burgas airport. Their general position was published on his official Facebook page by the Mayor of Burgas, Dimitar Nikolov, who also participated in the meeting.

The position notes that over the years, the municipalities in the region have had hundreds of conversations with Fraport Twin Star Airport Management AD , the German-Bulgarian concessionaire of the two Black Sea airports in Varna and Burgas , dozens of meetings, and participated in various round tables. Several municipalities have even created a fund to stimulate more flights, with no result. The lack of flights is really dooming the Southern Black Sea coast, which has significantly more tourists than the Northern coast in the summer, the position reads.

The Union of Owners in the Sunny Beach resort on the Black sea also expressed its absolute disagreement with the policy of the Burgas Airport concessionaire in a letter sent to the Prime Minister, to National Assembly Chair, to the Ministries of Tourism, Transport and Communications, to the Minister of Finance, to the Minister of Economy and Industry, to the floor leaders of all parliamentary groups in the National Assembly.

The entire tourist industry from our southern Black Sea coast, as well as the majority of the municipalities, have repeatedly stated that it is unacceptable for Fraport, as the concessionaire of the airports in Varna and Burgas, to almost completely neglect one at the expense of the other, the organization said in its letter. Tourism is a major economic industry in the region, and transport connectivity is one of the most important and necessary conditions. Unfortunately, as a result of Fraport's management policy, all airlines are diverted to Varna Airport, and during the autumn-winter period, not a single flight operates from Burgas Airport, the Union stressed.

The organization explained that the last straw was a six-month repair of of the runways in Burgas, announced by Fraport, during which the airport will be completely closed, albiet not during the summer season.