June 13 (SeeNews) - Combined passenger numbers at the Bulgarian coastal airports of Varna and Burgas increased 52% year-on-year to 672,287 in the January-May period of 2018, Germany’s Fraport Group, which operates the airports, said on Wednesday.
Passenger traffic at Burgas airport grew by an annual 42.4% to 248,091 in January-May, while passengers at Varna airport increased 58.2% to 424,196, Fraport said in a monthly statistical report.
In May alone, combined passenger traffic at the two airports rose 39.3% to 331,648.
Combined aircraft movements at the two airports rose by 27.6% on the year to 6,236 in January-May. At Burgas airport, aircraft take-offs and landings grew by 15.7% to 2,319, while at Varna airport aircraft movements increased 35.9% to 3,917.
Cargo handled at the two airports decreased by 32.5% to 3,825 tonnes in the first five 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)