July 12 (SeeNews) - Combined passenger numbers at the Bulgarian coastal airports of Varna and Burgas fell by 12.9% year-on-year to 1.44 million in the January-June period of 2019, Germany’s Fraport Group, which operates the airports, said on Friday.
Passenger traffic at Varna airport dropped by an annual 11.1% to 700,700 in the first six months of this year, while passenger numbers at Burgas airport fell 14.5% to 738,031, Fraport said in a monthly report.
Combined aircraft movements at the two airports declined 15.7% to 11,367 in the review period. At Varna airport, aircraft take-offs and landings fell 14.8% to 5,803, while at Burgas airport aircraft movements decreased 16.6% to 5,564.
Cargo handled at the two airports plunged 35.1% to 2,918 t. Nearly all of it - 2,864 t. - was handled at Burgas airport.
Fraport Twin Star Airport Management, a 60/40 joint venture of Fraport and Bulgarian company BM Star, told SeeNews last year that it plans to invest 256 million levs ($149.7 million/130.9 million euro) by 2027 in the two Bulgarian airports it operates.
Fraport Twin Star Airport Management won a 35-year concession to run the airports in 2006.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)