April 14 (SeeNews) - Total passenger traffic at the Bulgarian airports of Varna and Burgas jumped to over 158,300 in the first three months of 2022 from some 60,600 in the same period of 2021, Germany's Fraport Group, which operates the two coastal airports, said.
Passenger numbers at Varna Airport increased sharply to more than 136,300 in the January-March period of 2022 from 56,800 a year earlier, while passengers at Burgas Airport rose to 22,000 from 3,800 in the comparable period of last year, Fraport said in a monthly report on traffic figures published on Wednesday.
The airports in Fraport’s international portfolio largely sustained their rebound in March. Most of the group airports achieved significant traffic gains in the reporting month, with some even recording annual growth rates of more than 100%, albeit compared to strongly reduced traffic levels in March 2021, Fraport said.
Aircraft take-offs and landings went up by an annual 72.7% to 1,686 in the first quarter of this year.
Cargo handled at Bulgaria's two coastal airports dropped 27.5% on the year to 745 tonnes in the period under review.
Burgas and Varna airports are run by Fraport Twin Star Airport Management under a 35-year concession contract awarded in 2006. Fraport Twin Star Airport Management is a 60/40 joint venture of Fraport and Bulgarian company BM Star.
Elsewhere in Southeast Europe, Fraport Group operates the airport in Slovenia's capital Ljubljana, as well as 14 airports in Greece. The group also runs an airport in Antalya, Turkey.