October 17 (SeeNews) - Lufthansa expects to achieve substantial growth in the region of southeastern Europe, particularly in Bulgaria, Albania and Romania which the German aviation group sees as focus markets, vice president for Europe, Heike Birlenbach, has said.
"There is more growth to be expected in Bulgaria, Albania and Romania, so we carefully watch what is going on there in terms of capacity increases," Heike Birlenbach, vice president of Lufthansa Group for Europe told SeeNews on the sidelines of an event celebrating the anniversary of Bulgarian Air Force on Sunday.
"These markets are important for us. They are focus markets for us," she added.
The increase in passenger numbers in Bulgaria, Albania and Romania is larger than in other countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Birlenbach noted.
On October 5, the provider of civil aircraft maintenance and repair services Lufthansa Technik Sofia, part of Lufthansa Group, said it is investing 30 million euro ($33.7 million) in the expansion of its hangars at Sofia international airport. The investment is planned to increase the volume of the company's operations by 60% and will lead to a 30% increase in the number of employees in Sofia to 1,300.
"The investment of Lufthansa Technik in Bulgaria is huge, it is the second biggest of the company and the largest outside of Germany. [...] First, Lufthansa Technik has to complete its project and see if there is potential for further growth. At the moment there are no plans for further expansion," Birlenbach said.
($=0.9099 euro)