Bourgas and Varna airports report rise of traffic

Varna and Bourgas airports registered an increase in traffic and passenger numbers for the first quarter of 2009, the Sofia Echo reported.
Varna airport saw a 14.2 per cent increase, rising to 60 727 passengers. Bourgas did even better, unveiling a substantially larger increase of 30.5 per cent, or the equivalent of 11 330 passengers. In the case of Bourgas, the rise is attributed to the three regular weekly flights from London, Fraport reports.
The positive trend for Bulgaria cannot be said for Frankfurt, which overall registered a 10.9 per cent decrease, down to 10.92 million passengers. Hence data for the entire Fraport group indicated a drop of 7.1 per cent, or 14 238 million passengers.
Profits for Fraport before tax taxation for the first quarter have been slashed by 13.5 per cent down to 99.8 million euro, as opposed to the same period in 2008.
Due to the global economic downturn, Fraport expects that over the course of 2009, passenger levels will decrease globally, Bulgaria included. Passengers in destinations such as Antalia and Lima are expected to drop 'alarmingly',  the report says.

Source: Transportweekly