August 7 (SeeNews) - Germany's Fraport said on Wednesday that it expects the passenger traffic at the two Bulgarian airports it operates, in Varna and Burgas, to decrease by up to 10% year-on-year in 2019.
"This is mainly due to the closure of the Ryanair hub at Burgas Airport and the relocation of passenger flows to other tourist destinations such as northern Africa and Turkey," Fraport said in an interim financial statement.
In the first half of 2019, passenger traffic at the two airports located on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast, fell by an annual 12.9% to 1.44 million.
Domestic traffic decreased by 9%, as it was negatively affected by the cancellation of WizzAir's service to Sofia. International traffic was 13.3% lower, mainly due to fewer travellers to and from Russia, Poland and Germany.
In addition, the reduction in Ryanair flights and the resurgent tourism in Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt also had a negative impact on the passenger traffic at the Varna and Burgas airports.
Fraport Twin Star Airport Management, a 60/40 joint venture of Fraport and Bulgarian company BM Star, won a 35-year concession to run the airports in 2006.