site.btaNo Fees for Tour Operators' Vans at Sofia Airport This Winter

Tour operators will not be charged access fees for their vans at Sofia Airport's Terminal 2 in the coming winter as decided at a meeting between caretaker Tourism Minister Evtim Miloshev, Deputy Transport and Communications Minister Zhivko Petrov and Sofia Airport CEO Jesús Caballero.

Sofia Municipality Deputy Mayor Nikola Barbutov also participated in the meeting.

The decision came about after the tourism industry voiced concern about the increase in access and parking fees at the terminal in front of the Tourism Minister. The decision will apply until the end of the winter; meanwhile, traffic analysis will be carried out. In addition, it was discussed that after the winter season, the free parking time of the tour operators' buses and vans should increase from 15 to 30 minutes, up to three times a day. To further help tour operators, the airport concessionaire will set up a vehicle height detection system to improve organization.

At the meeting, Miloshev and Barbutov talked about the need to build a new interactive tourist information centre at Sofia Airport. Jesús Caballero said the main goal is to develop Sofia and Bulgaria as a tourist destination, as well as to increase air connectivity by opening new routes.

For his part, Miloshev said that after his recent visit to Japan, he would like to see a charter flight launched between Sofia and Tokyo or Beijing. Caballero fully supported the idea and offered his team's expertise and data analysis.