April 27 (SeeNews) - SOF Connect, the concessionaire of Bulgaria's Sofia Airport, said on Thursday that it plans to invest 40 million levs ($22.6 million/20.5 million euro) in the planned reconstruction of the airport's main Terminal 2 by the end of 2025.
The airport operator has signed a contract with local company IPA Architects to design the overhaul of Terminal 2, in partnership with French architecture firm 1PAX and French aviation consultancy Egis Avia, it said in a press release.
The concession-holder also plans to build a brand new third terminal at the airport by 2030, it added.
The complete refurbishment of Terminal 2 is designed to take over traffic from the old and little used Terminal 1. The overhaul project includes the installation of a new baggage management system, for which the airport operator last month signed a 20 million levs contract with French group Alstef.
In addition, the capacity of the check-in counters will be doubled, the hand baggage and border control areas will be redeveloped and a new duty-free shopping area of almost 2,000 sq m will be built. Other planned improvements will be the introduction of a concept for the catering facilities and the installation of additional jet bridges, SOF Connect added.
Last year, SOF Connect, which is owned at 99% by French private equity firm Meridiam, increased to over 140 million levs the planned investments in the upgrade of Sofia Airport over the first five years of its 35-year concession contract.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)