Burgas Airport

Burgas Airport (IATA: BOJ, ICAO: LBBG) (Bulgarian: Летище Бургас, romanized: Letishte Burgas) is an international airport in southeast Bulgaria and the second largest in the country. It is near the northern neighbourhood of Sarafovo approximately 10 km (6.2 mi) from the city centre. The airport principally serves Burgas and other seaside resorts of Bulgarian south coast which attract many tourists during the summer leisure season. In 2018 it handled 3,277,229 passengers, a 9.9% increase compared to 2017.

Burgas Airport Летище Бургас
IATA: BOJ ICAO: LBBG
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Republic of Bulgaria
Operator	Fraport Twin Star Airport Management AD
Serves	Burgas, Bulgaria
Location	Burgas, Bulgaria
Focus city for	BH Air Bulgaria Air Bulgarian Air Charter
Elevation AMSL	41 m / 135 ft
Coordinates	42°34′13″N 027°30′55″E
Website	burgas-airport.com
Map
BOJ Location of airport in Bulgaria
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 04/22 3,200 10,500 Concrete
Statistics (2019)
Passengers 2,885,776 12.0% Aircraft movements 19,954 14.3%
Source: Bulgarian AIP at EUROCONTROL

History

Early years

On 27 June 1937, 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]

Development since the 2000s

Burgas airport has been subject to heavy traffic following the growing tourism industry in Bulgaria and was 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 entered into 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 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).

Facilities

Aerial view of Burgas Airport

Terminals

In December 2011 construction work began on the new Terminal 2. The new terminal was planned to have a capacity of 2,700,000 passengers and an area of 20,000 square metres (220,000 sq ft). The new terminal building was designed so that it can be easily upgraded to further increase capacity, if necessary. Construction of the new terminal was completed in 2013, and has been operational since December 2013.[2]

Terminal 2 replaced the older Terminal 1, which was built in the 1950s and expanded in the early 1990s, and now handles all of the airport's passenger traffic. The terminal is equipped with 31 check-in counters, three boarding-card checkpoints, nine security lanes and eight departure gates. The arrivals area (divided into Schengen and non-Schengen zones) has 12 immigration stations and four baggage carousels (one 120 metres (390 ft) long and three 70 metres (230 ft) long carousels). Passenger amenities include 800 square metres (8,600 sq ft) of space dedicated to shopping and 1,220 square metres (13,100 sq ft) for food and beverage (F&B) services. There is also a 550 square metres (5,900 sq ft) outdoor courtyard.

Runway

At 3,200 metres (10,500 ft), Burgas Airport has the fourth longest runway in the Balkans, after Athens Airport, Sofia Airport and Belgrade Airport.

On 31 October 2016, reconstruction and rehabilitation of taxiways began at Burgas airport. The project includes a complete rehabilitation of 3,500 square meters of taxiway "H", complete rehabilitation of taxiway "A", as well as area adjacent to the runway holding point. The control and monitoring system for airfield lighting and approach light equipment will be replaced. The total investment of Fraport Twin Star Airport Management in these projects is over BGN 12 million.[3][4]

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Burgas Airport:

Airlines	Destinations
Aer Lingus	Seasonal: Dublin
Aeroflot	Seasonal: Moscow–Sheremetyevo[5]
airBaltic	Seasonal charter: Riga[6]
Arkia	Seasonal: Tel Aviv[7]
Belavia[8]	Seasonal charter: Brest, Gomel, Grodno, Minsk, Mogilev, Vitebsk
BH Air	Seasonal: Aberdeen, Belfast–International, Billund, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Copenhagen, Doncaster/Sheffield, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Humberside, Leeds/Bradford, London–Gatwick, London–Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Norwich, Teesside[9] Seasonal charter: Bergen,[10] Harstad/Narvik,[11] Nur-Sultan, Oulu,[12] Stockholm–Arlanda,[13] Sandefjord,[10] Trondheim[10]
Brussels Airlines	Seasonal: Brussels
Bulgaria Air	Seasonal: Moscow–Sheremetyevo,[14] Moscow–Vnukovo,[15] Sofia, Varna Seasonal charter: Aalborg,[16] Billund,[16] Copenhagen,[16] Katowice,[16] Košice,[16] Prague,[16] Poprad[16]
Bulgarian Air Charter	Seasonal charter: Basel/Mulhouse,[17] Berlin-Schönefeld,[17] Berlin–Tegel,[17] Cologne/Bonn,[17] Dresden,[17] Düsseldorf,[17] Erfurt/Weimar,[17] Frankfurt,[17] Graz,[17] Hamburg,[17] Hannover,[17] Katowice,[18] Leipzig/Halle,[17] Linz,[17] Munich,[17] Nuremberg,[17] Poznań,[18] Rzeszów,[19] Salzburg,[20] Stuttgart,[17] Tel Aviv,[7] Vienna,[20] Warsaw–Chopin,[18] Wroclaw,[18] Yerevan
Buzz	Seasonal charter: Kraków[21]
Chair Airlines	Seasonal: Zürich[22]
Corendon Dutch Airlines	Seasonal: Amsterdam, Brussels, Maastricht/Aachen[23]
Danish Air Transport	Seasonal charter: Billund,[24] Copenhagen[24]
Enter Air[21]	Seasonal charter: Bydgoszcz, Gdańsk, Katowice, Łódź, Lublin,[21] Rzeszów, Szczecin,[21] Warsaw–Chopin, Warsaw–Modlin, Wrocław
Finnair	Seasonal: Helsinki[25]
Freebird Airlines Europe	Seasonal charter: Leipzig/Halle[26]
GetJet Airlines	Seasonal charter: Vilnius[27]
Jet2.com	Seasonal: Belfast–International, Birmingham, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds/Bradford, London–Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne
LOT Polish Airlines	Seasonal: Gdańsk,[28] Katowice,[29] Poznań,[30] Rzeszów,[31] Warsaw–Chopin,[32] Wrocław[33]
Luxair	Seasonal: Luxembourg
Motor Sich Airlines	Seasonal: Zaporizhia[34]
NordStar	Seasonal charter: Moscow–Domodedovo[35]
Nordwind Airlines[36]	Seasonal charter: Kazan, Moscow–Sheremetyevo, Saint Petersburg, Samara, Ufa
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Seasonal: Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo–Gardermoen, Stockholm–Arlanda Seasonal charter: Stavanger[10]
Novair	Seasonal charter: Oslo–Gardermoen[11]
Rossiya	Seasonal: Saint Petersburg
Ryanair	Seasonal: Bratislava, Gdańsk, Katowice, Kraków, Vienna,[37][38] Warsaw–Modlin
S7 Airlines	Moscow–Domodedovo
Scandinavian Airlines	Seasonal charter: Oslo–Gardermoen,[11] Tromsø,[11] Trondheim[10]
Severstal Air Company	Seasonal charter: Cherepovets[39]
SkyUp	Seasonal: Kharkiv,[8] Kiev–Boryspil,[40] Lviv,[8] Zaporizhia[41]
SmartLynx Airlines	Seasonal charter: Riga[27]
Smartlynx Airlines Estonia	Seasonal charter: Tallinn[27]
Smartwings	Seasonal: Bratislava, Brno, Katowice,[42] Košice, Ostrava, Prague, Warsaw–Chopin[43] Seasonal charter: Pardubice, Poprad, Sliač
Smartwings Poland	Seasonal charter: Gdańsk[43]
Sunclass Airlines	Seasonal charter: Helsinki,[44] Oslo–Gardermoen[45]
TUI Airways[46]	Seasonal: Belfast–International, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Doncaster/Sheffield, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London–Gatwick, London–Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne Seasonal charter: Dublin[47]
TUI fly Belgium	Seasonal: Brussels, Ostend/Bruges Seasonal charter: Lille,[48] Lyon,[48] Nantes,[48] Paris–Charles de Gaulle[48][49]
TUI fly Netherlands	Seasonal: Amsterdam
TUI fly Nordic	Seasonal charter: Gothenburg,[13] Helsinki,[12] Stockholm-Arlanda[13]
Ukraine International Airlines	Seasonal: Kherson[50][51] Seasonal charter: Kiev–Boryspil[52]
Ural Airlines[53]	Seasonal: Yekaterinburg Seasonal charter: Kurumoch, Moscow–Domodedovo, Rostov-on-Don, Saint Petersburg
Voyage Air	Seasonal charter: Vienna[54]
Widerøe	Seasonal charter: Ålesund,[11] Harstad/Narvik,[11] Trondheim[11]
Windrose Airlines	Seasonal: Dnipropetrovsk,[55] Kiev–Boryspil, Vinnytsia[56]
Wizz Air	Vienna[57] Seasonal: Budapest, Katowice, Warsaw–Chopin
Wizz Air UK	London–Luton

Statistics

Traffic

Traffic at Burgas Airport

Year	Domestic passengers	Change	International passengers	Change	Total passengers	Change	Cargo (tonnes)	Change	Aircraft movements	Change
1998	16,020		417,004		433,024				6,092
1999	14,734	8%	324,563	22%	339,297	21.6%			5,722	6.1%
2000	8,964	39.2%	389,051	19.9%	398,015	17.3%	73		5,224	8.7%
2001	1,993	77.8%	592,403	52.3%	594,396	49.3%	161	120.5%	5,633	7.8%
2002	1,882	5.6%	765,594	29.2%	767,476	29.1%	925	474.5%	6,515	15.6%
2003	1,858	1.3%	1,024,179	33.8%	1,026,037	33.7%	635	31.4%	8,136	24.8%
2004	2,621	41.1%	1,339,552	30.8%	1,342,173	30.8%	899	41.6%	10,692	31.4%
2005	2,232	14.8%	1,553,398	16%	1,555,603	16%	122	86.4%	11,842	10.7%
2006	1,504	32.6%	1,706,695	9.9%	1,708,199	9.8%	405	232.0%	13,364	12.8%
2007	11,346	654.4%	1,926,279	12.9%	1,937,625	13.4%	2,051	406.4%	13,606	1.8%
2008	15,061	32.7%	1,905,562	1.1%	1,920,623	0.8%	1,338	34.8%	13,794	1.4%
2009	12,450	17.3%	1,671,336	12.3%	1,683,786	12.3%	2,597	94.1%	11,956	13.3%
2010	14,273	14.6%	1,858,345	11.2%	1,872,618	11.2%	5,654	117.7%	13,774	15.2%
2011	77,789	445%	2,151,256	21.2%	2,229,045	19%	5,991	6.0%	19,215	19%
2012	69,244	11%	2,287,621	6.3%	2,356,865	5.7%	2,281	61.9%	16,961	11.7%
2013	44,780	34.3%	2,416,868	2.5%	2,461,648	4.4%	2,625	15.1%	18,008	6.2%
2014	36,589	18.3%	2,485,730	2.8%	2,522,319	2.6%	5,354	104.0%	18,869	0.8%
2015	30,376	17%	2,329,944	7.3%	2,360,320	6.7%	13,272	147.9%	18,271	4.3%
2016	21,104	30.5%[58]	2,857,779	22.7%	2,878,883	22.0%	10,877	18.0%	20,873	14.2%
2017[59]					2,982,339	3.6%	14,300	31.5%	21,466	2.8%
2018[60]					3,277,229	9.9%	8,429	41.1%	23,284	8.5%
2019					2,885,776	12.0%	4,747	43.7%	19,954	14.3%

Ground transportation

Bus

Line No 15 (bus-stop: located at the entrance of the airport area).Initial and final bus stops in Burgas – Burgas bus station "South".[61]

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 approximately 15 minutes, depending on the traffic intensity.[62]

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.[63]

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 six civilians (and one 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.[64][65]

See also

• List of airports in Bulgaria
• List of airlines of Bulgaria
• List of the busiest airports in Europe
• 2012 Burgas bus bombing

References

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40. "SkyUp". skyup.aero.
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50. "МАУ открыла продажи на рейсы Херсон-Бургас". avianews.com. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
51. Liu, Jim (11 June 2019). "Ukraine International adds seasonal Kherson – Bourgas from mid-June 2019". Routesonline. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
52. "ИЗМЕНЕНИЕ ПОЛЕТНОЙ ПРОГРАММЫ по БОЛГАРИИ". Alf-ua.com.
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57. "Wizz Air to launch new routes from Vienna to Charleroi and 7 other destinations". 6 May 2020.
58. "Главна дирекция "Гражданска въздухоплавателна администрация"". Caa.bg. Archived from the original on 1 March 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
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61. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
63. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 December 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
64. Zion, Ilan Ben; Shmulovich, Michal. "7 dead, 3 critical after attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria". Timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
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External links

• Official website