May 14 (SeeNews) - Combined passenger numbers at the Bulgarian coastal airports of Varna and Burgas fell by 9.1% year-on-year to 309,811 in the January-April period of 2019, Germany’s Fraport Group, which operates the airports, said on Tuesday.
Passenger traffic at Varna airport dropped by an annual 3.1% to 247,732 in the first four months of this year, while passenger numbers at Burgas airport plunged 26.8% to 62,079, Fraport said in a monthly report.
Combined aircraft movements at the two airports declined 15.2% to 2,949 in the review period. At Varna airport, aircraft take-offs and landings fell 12.3% to 2,178, while at Burgas airport aircraft movements decreased 22.7% to 771.
Cargo handled at the two airports fell 33.1% to 2,206 t. Nearly all of it - 2,172 t. - was handled at Burgas airport.
Fraport Twin Star Airport Management, a 60/40 joint venture of Fraport and Bulgarian company BM Star, told SeeNews last year that it plans to invest 256 million levs ($149.7 million/130.9 million euro) by 2027 in the two Bulgarian airports it operates.
Fraport Twin Star Airport Management won a 35-year concession to run the airports in 2006.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)