Bourgas Airport reported a 86% drop in passengers from the beginning of the year until the end of August. At Varna Airport the numbers show a 71% drop. The information was provided to TravelNews by Fraport Twin Star Airport Management AD, which is the operator of both airports. Bourgas Airport is traditionally the busiest airport in Bulgaria during the summer season wtih planes landing or taking off every 10 minutes. From the beginning of the year until August 31, 2020, only 312,000 passengers passed through it, compared to 2.4 million for the same period last year. The forecast until the end of the year in the best case scenario is for the decline of passengers to be about 80% for the whole of 2020. For the whole of September the company expects to serve about 800 flights against over 3000 in 2019. The last charters are on September 30 from Bourgas to Tel Aviv.
During the busiest month for Bourgas Airport - August, the decline in tourists was 80%. Only 165,000 passengers were served, compared to 839,000 last year. 1286 aircraft passed through compared to 5225 in August 2019. Most tourists arrived from Poland - 64,000, which is a decrease of 47% compared to last year. In second place is Germany - 33,910 with a decrease of 57%. They are followed by the Czech Republic 29,000 (-68%), Great Britain - 10,400 (-93%), Ukraine - 10,200 (-93%), Belgium - 3,900 (-78%), Austria - 2,700 (-76%). The only increases in August were reported for passengers from Slovakia - 1500 (an increase of 1% compared to last year) and from Ireland - 1496 people (an increase of 1%). Bourgas Airport suffered the most because of Sunny Beach, where about 70% of the hotels were not opened due to COVID-19.
The situation is similar at Varna Airport, although a little better. From the beginning of the year until August 31, 2020, 441,000 passengers visited compared to 1.5 million for the same period last year, a decrease of 71%. Fraport Twin Star Airport Management AD forecasts that by the end of the year the decline will be around 70% in the best case scenario. For the whole of September, they expect to serve over 840 flights compared to 2150 in 2019, which is 61% less. The last charters are on September 30 from Varna to Bodrum for Bulgarian tourists.
In August, 120,000 passengers arrived at Varna Airport, a drop of 71% from the same month last year, when there were more than 413,000 passengers, the data shows. 1227 aircraft were processed, compared to 2771 in 2019, which is 56% less. Varna Airport has welcomed the most foreigners from Germany, Great Britain and Poland. 48,000 tourists arrived from Germany in August, down 60% from last year. From the United Kingdom - 15,000 (down 53%), from Poland - 14,000 (-69%), from the Czech Republic - 7,806 (-62%), from Austria - 5,000 (-62%), from Belgium - 3,100 (-60) %), from Israel - 1700 (-90%), from Luxembourg - 1300 (-68%). Tourists from the Netherlands are the only group showing a growth of 9%, with 4600 tourists coming.
Destination Varna suffered in mid-August after Germany put the area and Dobrich on the red travel list. This was a big hit for the resorts of Golden Sands, Albena and St. Constantine and Helena. The programs of the German tour operators were immediately terminated.
The two airports of Bourgas and Varna report serious losses due to the lack of flights from Russia and charters from Great Britain and other countries.
Miroslav Ivanov
