July 12 (SeeNews) - Combined passenger numbers at the Bulgarian coastal airports of Varna and Burgas increased by 27.6% year-on-year to 1.65 million in the January-June period of 2018, Germany’s Fraport Group, which operates the airports, said on Thursday.
Passenger traffic at Burgas airport grew by an annual 20% to 864,511 in the first half of the year, while passengers at Varna airport increased 37.1% to 788,369, Fraport said in a monthly statistical report.
In June alone, combined passenger traffic at the two airports rose 14.9% to 979,593.
Combined aircraft movements at the two airports rose by 19.4% on the year to 13,490 in January-June. At Burgas airport, aircraft take-offs and landings grew by 12.2% to 6,815, while at Varna airport aircraft movements increased 27.7% to 6,675.
Cargo handled at the two airports decreased by 34.5% to 4,496 tonnes in the first six months of the year.
Fraport Twin Star Airport Management told SeeNews earlier this year it plans to invest 256 million levs ($160.6 million/130.9 million euro) by 2027 in the two Bulgarian airports it operates.
In 2006, Fraport Twin Star Airport Management, a 60/40 joint venture of Fraport and Bulgarian company BM Star, won a 35-year concession to manage the two coastal airports.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)