Burgas Airport
Burgas Airport Bourgas Airport Sarafovo Airport Летище Бургас | |||||||||||
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| File:Burgas airport logo.png | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Operator | Fraport Twin Star Airport Management | ||||||||||
| Serves | Burgas  | ||||||||||
| Location | Burgas, Bulgaria | ||||||||||
| Hub for | |||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 41 m / 135 ft | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 42°34′13″N 027°30′55″E / 42.57028°N 27.51528°E | ||||||||||
| Website | www.bourgas-airport.com | ||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2012) | |||||||||||
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Source: Belgian AIP at EUROCONTROL | |||||||||||
Burgas Airport (IATA: BOJ, ICAO: LBBG), ([Летище Бургас, Letishte Burgas] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)) and also known as Sarafovo Airport is an airport in southeast Bulgaria and the second largest airport in the country. The airport is located near to the north neighbourhood of Burgas, Sarafovo almost 10 kilometres from the city centre. Between the airport and the city centre is located the Lake Atanasovsko.
Burgas Airport has the fourth runway length on the Balkans (3200m) after Athens Airport, Sofia Airport and Belgrade Airport. The airport has also well established links to intermodal transport by land (road and railway) and sea. In 2012, the airport handled 2,356,865 passengers, a 5.7% increase compared to 2,229,045 handled in 2011.
History
On 27 June 1927 the French company CIDNA (now part of Air France), chose the area of Burgas Airport to build a radio station and signed a contract with the Bulgarian government for its use. The contract expressly stated that the staff of Burgas Airport would be Bulgarian.
On 29 June 1947, Balkan Bulgarian Airlines began domestic flights between Burgas, Plovdiv and Sofia, using Junkers Ju 52/3m aircraft. In the 1950s and 1960s the airport was expanded and modernized by building a concrete runway. In 1970, the airport became an international airport serving 45 destinations.[1]
Currently, Burgas airport is subject to heavy traffic following the growing tourism industry in Bulgaria and is in need of major investments to expand and handle projected passenger traffic. In June 2006, the Bulgarian Government awarded Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide a 35 year long concession on both Varna and Burgas airports in return for investments exceeding €500 million.
Fraport will be in partnership with Varna-based company BM Star. The concessionaire has vowed to inject 403 million Euro in the two airports during the lifespan of the arrangement. Fraport said it will pay 60% of an investment of EUR 403 million over the 35 year concession. The investments will be made in new terminal facilities, vehicles and equipment and expanding apron areas at the airports over the life of the concession
On 18 July 2012 a bomb exploded on a passenger bus transporting Israeli tourists at the Burgas Airport. The explosion killed seven people and injured thirty-two (see 2012 Burgas bus bombing).
Terminals
Current Terminals
Currently they are two Terminals at the airport, mentioned als Terminal Arrivals, and Terminal Departures. The first of them was built in the 1950s, the second in the early 1990s. In both terminals there are various outlets: cafes, fast food restaurants, currency exchange, duty-free shops also a VIP room and business lounge.
Extension
In December 2011 began construction work on new Terminal. The new terminal will have a capacity of 2,700,000 passengers and 31 check-in desks and covers an area of 20,000m2. The new terminal buildings are designed so that it can their capacity, if necessary, be further increased as an extension to the existing architectural part. Construction of new terminal should be completed by the winter of 2013.[2]
Airlines and destinations
There are domestic and international flights to about 116 destinations in 33 countries, by more than 69 bulgarian and foreign airlines. The busiest season for the airport is from the end of April to the beginning of October.
Scheduled flights
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Aer Lingus | Seasonal: Dublin |
| Bulgaria Air | Sofia, Varna Seasonal: Moscow-Sheremetyevo, St. Petersburg |
| Luxair | Seasonal: Luxembourg |
| Mistral Air | Seasonal: Bergamo (begins 16 July 2013), Catania (resumes 18 July 2013), Rome-Fiumicino (begins 16 July 2013) [3] |
| Norwegian Air Shuttle | Seasonal: Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo-Gardermoen, Stockholm-Arlanda |
| Rossiya | Seasonal: St. Petersburg |
| S7 Airlines | Moscow-Domodedovo Seasonal: Novosibirsk [4] |
| SmartWings | Seasonal: Bratislava, Brno, Budapest, Košice, Ostrava, Prague |
| Ural Airlines | Seasonal: Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg |
| Wizz Air | London-Luton Seasonal: Budapest, Katowice, Poznań, Warsaw-Chopin |
Seasonal Charter flights
Cargo airlines
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Kalitta Air[10] | charters |
| National Airlines[11] | charters |
| Silk Way Airlines[12] | charters |
Destinations map
The maps incudes scheduled and charter destinations in Europe and part from Middle East.
Traffic figures
| Year | Domestic Passenger |
Change | International Passenger |
Change | Total | Change | Aircraft movements |
Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | ||||||||
| 1999 |  8%
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22%
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21.6%
|
6.1%
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| 2000 | 39.2%
|
 19.9%
|
17.3%
|
8.7%
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| 2001 | 77.8%
|
52.3%
|
49.3%
|
7.8%
| ||||
| 2002 | 5.6%
|
29.2%
|
29.1%
|
15.6%
| ||||
| 2003 | 1.3%
|
33.8%
|
33.7%
|
24.8%
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| 2004 | 41.1%
|
30.8%
|
30.8%
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31.4%
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| 2005 | 14.8%
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16%
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16%
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10.7%
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| 2006 | 32.6%
|
9.9%
|
9.8%
|
12.8%
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| 2007 | 654.4%
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12.9%
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13.4%
|
1.8%
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| 2008 | 32.7%
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1.1%
|
0.8%
|
1.4%
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| 2009 | 17.3%
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12.3%
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12.3%
|
13.3%
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| 2010 | 14.6%
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11.2%
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11.2%
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15.2%
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| 2011[13] | 445%
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21.2%
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19%
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19%
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| 2012 | 11%
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6.3%
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5.7%
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11.7%
|
Transport links
Bus
Line No 15 (Bus-stop: located at the entrance of the airport area).Initial and final bus stops in Burgas – Burgas south bus stop.
Taxi
The Taxi Piazza is located in front of the Arrivals Terminal at Burgas Airport. A taxi ride from Burgas Airport to the city takes approx 15 minutes, depending on the traffic intensity.
Parking
Passengers and guests arriving at Burgas Airport with their personal car can use the commercially available parking lot, located in the immediate vicinity of the main terminal building. The parking lot has 199 car spaces available and is accessible 24 hours a day.[14]
Incidents and accidents
- On 18 July 2012, an attack at Burgas Airport occurred. A suicide bomber boarded a bus which was transporting Israeli citizens to the Bulgarian resort of Sunny Beach located in Burgas, the perpetrator detonated the bomb killing 6 civilians (+ 1 suicide bomber) as well as injuring 32 people. The attack resulted in the closure of Burgas Airport for over 30 hours, resulting in the majority of flights diverting to Varna Airport.[15][16]
Gallery
-
TUIfly Nordic Boeing 737-800 taxing at Burgas Airport. -
Burgas Airport apron at night. -
Bulgarian Air Charter McDonnell Douglas MD-82 at Burgas Airport. -
Bulgaria Air Boeing 737-500 with old livery at Burgas Airport. -
Burgas Airport summer traffic.
See also
- List of airports in Bulgaria
- List of airlines of Bulgaria
- List of the busiest airports in Europe by passenger traffic
- 2012 Burgas bus bombing
References
- ^ Template:Bg icon http://cholakovv.com/bg/projects/followme
- ^ http://bulgariaflights.com/en/news/new-terminals-will-welcome-tourists-in-varna-and-bourgas-in-2013/50/
- ^ Mistral Air Summer 2013 Routes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao "Bourgas Airport Schedule". Information and Services. Bourgas Airport. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
- ^ http://www.balkanholidays.co.uk/flight_only/london-southend-airport.html
- ^ http://www.southendairport.com/news/latest-news/beautiful-bulgaria-is-just-three-hours-away/
- ^ SAMair destinations map
- ^ Photos – Transaero at Burgas Airport (in Bulgarian)
- ^ Transavia.com destinations map
- ^ Photos – Kalitta Air at Burgas Airport (in Bulgarian)
- ^ Photos – National Airlines at Burgas Airport (in Bulgarian)
- ^ Photos – Silk Way Airlines at Burgas Airport (in Bulgarian)
- ^ http://www.fraport.com/content/fraport-ag/en/investor_relations/traffic_data0/fraport_group.html
- ^ http://www.bourgas-airport.com/PassengerServices/Parking/tabid/179/language/en-US/Default.aspx
- ^ http://www.timesofisrael.com/explosion-rocks-israeli-tour-bus-in-bulgaria Attack Ref 1
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/20/world/europe/explosion-on-bulgaria-tour-bus-kills-at-least-five-israelis.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all Attack Ref 2