October 19 (SeeNews) - Passenger traffic at Bulgaria's airports of Varna and Burgas rose by an annual 84.8% to over 1.7 million in the nine months through September, Germany's Fraport Group, which operates the two coastal airports, said.
Passenger traffic at the Varna Airport increased 57% on the year to 824,551 in the January-September period, while passengers at Burgas Airport more than doubled to 909,757, Fraport Group said in a statement last week.
Cargo handled at the two airports more than doubled to 4,017 t in the period under review. Aircraft movements went up 58.8% year-on-year to 14,945.
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.
"In September 2021, the airports in Fraport’s international portfolio largely continued to report positive traffic performance," Fraport Group noted in its statement. In comparison to pre-pandemic September 2019, however, most of Fraport’s Group airports worldwide still registered lower passenger numbers.
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.