Eurowings launches first flight to Sofia Airport

"Bulgaria is a very important market for Eurowings, that is why we chose Sofia. The route to Dusseldorf will be serviced three times per week and twice a week we will fly to Stuttgart," Zied Geblaui, General Manager Sales of Lufthansa Group for Bulgaria, said in a Sofia Airport statement.

The flights will be serviced with an Airbus A319 aircraft, which can carry up to 144 passengers, Geblaui added. 

Laudamotion, another new low-cost air carrier for Sofia Airport, is starting weekly flights to Vienna, Sofia Airport said.

The flights were launched on October 28, the airport's PR officers told SeeNews. 

Some of the new destinations that Sofia Airport will include in its winter schedule are the East Midlands Airport, Marseilles, Naples, Vienna, Paris, Nuremberg and Tel Aviv.

During the winter season, the number of destinations from Sofia Airport will reach 57, while operating airlines will be 22, the airport said. 

In July, Bulgaria's transport ministry picked a consortium led by French-based Meridiam Eastern European Investments as winner of a tender for awarding a 35-year concession contract to run Sofia Airport. The ministry's decision was appealed by all four other candidates, which filed bids for the contract.