The runway rehabilitation project at Burgas Airport is a key part of the concessionaire’s commitment to safety, the region, and all passengers

There is a strong public interest in the upcoming investments and the traffic development of Fraport Twin Star Airport Management AD as the concessionaire of Burgas Airport. Both are on track: massive investments are ongoing, and Burgas Airport expects a 12% traffic growth in 2025. Investments and traffic development are closely coordinated on state of the art level with Fraport Group, an international airport operator.  

Fraport Twin Star Airport Management AD develops the airport in line with the concession agreement and in close collaboration with the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Bulgaria as the partner of the contract. Since 2006, Fraport Twin Star Airport Management AD has already invested 221 million BGN in the airport infrastructure. The finalized projects at Burgas Airport include: the construction of a new passenger terminal, the modernization of the existing terminal, the apron expansion, including new electrical and lighting systems, and investments in sustainability. The international regulation on safety standards were and are fulfilled without compromise, and the passenger experience, including variety and quality of shops, bars, and restaurants increased significantly. As part of the concession agreement, Fraport Twin Star Airport Management AD has paid to the state more than 334 million BGN in concession fees and over 37 million BGN in corporate taxes.

Additional 100 million BGN will be invested in Burgas Airport until the end of 2026. The biggest part of this amount in the full rehabilitation of the runway of Burgas Airport, a measure that is foreseen in the Concession Agreement and the Master Plan and as such fully coordinated with the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Civil Aviation Authority of Bulgaria and the Municipality of Burgas. A postponement would increase safety risks to an unacceptable level. To minimize the impact on the tourist season, rehabilitation works are scheduled exclusively during the winter months – from November 2025 to the end of April 2026. This timeline was publicly announced nearly a year in advance to ensure maximum transparency and timely awareness of the public and all airlines. At Varna Airport, the full rehabilitation has been done during the winter 2011/2012 and also resulted in a full closure of the airport during construction works.

An additional investment in Burgas Airport is the currently ongoing complete renewal of the airside infrastructure and its commercial areas, including a 2000 m2 innovative outside area the passengers can use for convenient and seamless travelling.

As a concessionaire with international experience, Fraport Twin Star Airport Management AD is permanently working to grow traffic volumes and develop the connectivity of the Black Sea airports. The company is actively marketing Burgas Airport towards all relevant airlines. As a result, each year, Burgas Airport is connected to a high number of destinations – over 70 in the Summer 2025. One of the latest results is that Electra Airways will have 3 based aircraft at Burgas Airport in the Summer 2025, including one aircraft in a cooperation project with SunExpress. In 2025, the growing activities of the airlines will lead to 12% traffic growth and new routes. More than 2 million passengers are expected in 2025, without any flights from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus that brought more than 600 thousand passengers to Burgas Airport in 2019.

Fraport Twin Star Airport Management AD consistently encourages airlines to extend their flight schedules and operate during the winter months. Despite these ongoing efforts, only Wizz Air has maintained a continuous year-round service between Burgas and London over the past 17 years. In select years, additional winter routes to Moscow and Sofia were offered, but these remained exceptions rather than the rule.

For the winter 2024/2025 season, the Burgas–Sofia route was reintroduced with financial support from both the Southern Black Sea municipalities and Fraport Twin Star Airport Management AD. However, despite this backing, the route struggled to attract passengers. This highlights once more the significant economic challenges in sustaining regular winter flights from Burgas Airport.

Dr. Frank Quante, CEO of Fraport Twin Star Airport Management AD: “We are actively marketing Burgas Airport to all airlines and offer competitive tariffs. For winter traffic, we offer financial support with significantly lower tariffs and contribution. But the decision to fly is taken by the airline, not the airport. The airlines are very cautious about increasing the flight season due to the limited demand. For additional flights during the whole winter, they expect high financial support in addition to low tariffs. We will continue to include the municipalities in the discussions with and marketing activities towards the airlines, so they can see all efforts we undertake, both to develop the infrastructure and the traffic.”