Varna Airport

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Varna Airport

Flughafen Warna

Летище Варна

Letishte Varna
Varna airport logo.svg
Varna airport.jpg
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerRepublic of Bulgaria
OperatorFraport Twin Star Airport Management AD
ServesVarna, Bulgaria
LocationVarna, Bulgaria
Hub for
Elevation AMSL70 m / 230 ft
Coordinates43°13′55″N 27°49′31″E / 43.23194°N 27.82528°E / 43.23194; 27.82528Coordinates: 43°13′55″N 27°49′31″E / 43.23194°N 27.82528°E / 43.23194; 27.82528
Websitevarna-airport
Map
VAR is located in Bulgaria
VAR
VAR
Location of airport in Bulgaria
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
09/27 2,517 8,258 Asphalt
Statistics (2020)
Passengers622,215 Decrease72.0%
Aircraft movements6,881 Decrease57.5%
Source: Bulgarian AIP at EUROCONTROL

Varna Airport (Bulgarian: Летище Варна, Letishte Varna) (IATA: VAR, ICAO: LBWN) is the airport of Varna, the historical maritime capital of Bulgaria. Varna Airport is the third largest airport in Bulgaria. It is located 10 kilometers from the center of Varna near the town of Aksakovo. The airport serves Varna, Golden Sands and northeastern Bulgaria. The busiest season for the airport is from the end of May to the beginning of October.

History[]

The history of the airport dates back to 1916 when two sheds for the first hydro-port in Bulgaria were built in the Peinerdzhik area (present-day Chaika residential area).[citation needed] Irregular mail-plane service from Sofia to Varna was held between 1919 and 1920 and it was not until 1947 that a permanent airline between the two cities was established. What had grown into Tihina Airport was situated west of the present-day Asparuhov bridge and was indeed quite primitive for the demands of a modern city.[citation needed] Thus in 1946 a decision was made and a new airport was constructed several kilometres west of the city, near the village (now town) of Aksakovo, with local people enthusiastically working on the site together with the constructors. Construction and improvement continued throughout the years, with a new terminal built in 1972 and a new runway in 1974.[citation needed]

In 2013, a new passenger terminal opened and the one constructed in the 20th century was closed down.

There are domestic and international flights from Varna to about 70 destinations in 25 countries, with Bulgarian and foreign airlines. The airport is close to the Port of Varna and the railway system. The airport has one asphalt-covered runway 09/27 with ILS CAT I system on 09 edge and a parking apron for 24 aircraft. In June 2006 the Bulgarian Government awarded Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide a 35-year-long concession on both Varna and Burgas airports in return for investments exceeding €500 million, including a new passenger terminal by 2008.

From 15 October 2011 until 28 February 2012, Varna airport was closed for a reconstruction of the runway. All flights were operated to/from Burgas Airport.[1]

In 2016 the airport handled 1,689,595 passengers - a 20.8% increase compared to 2015.

Terminals[]

The runway
Terminal 2 gate area

The airport has three terminals: Terminal 1, built in 1972 (closed), Terminal 3 (opened in June 2007), which was used during the summer season, and the new Terminal 2, opened in August 2013.

Terminal 1[]

Terminal 1 (closed) was extended several times over the years. The departures area had 21 check-in counters and six security checkpoints. In the terminal there were various outlets: cafes, fast food restaurants, currency exchange, and duty-free shops. There were ten boarding gates. The arrivals area had two luggage belts, as well as currency exchange and a tax-free shop. Terminal 1 still has a VIP room and business lounge. In 2010 the VIP room was renovated. As of 2014, all flights, including no-frills, are managed by Terminal 2. Hence, the old terminal is closed except the VIP area.

Terminal 2[]

Terminal 2 started operations on 18 August 2013. In December 2011 the construction work on the new Terminal 2 began. T2 has a capacity of 1,800,000 passengers per year and 25 check-in desks. It covers an area of 18,000 square metres. T2's buildings are designed so that their capacity can be increased as an extension to the existing architectural part.[clarification needed] The first passenger service on T2 was a domestic flight to Sofia operated by the national carrier Bulgaria Air and first international passengers served were on a Belavia flight from Minsk. T2 was designed by London-based architecture firm Pascall+Watson.[citation needed]

Airlines and destinations[]

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Varna Airport:[2]

AirlinesDestinations
Austrian Airlines Vienna
Avion Express Seasonal charter: Vilnius
Bulgaria Air Sofia
Seasonal: Burgas, Moscow–Sheremetyevo, Saint Petersburg, Tel Aviv
easyJet Seasonal: Berlin, London–Gatwick
Edelweiss Air Seasonal: Zürich
Eurowings Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hamburg,[3] Hannover,[3] Leipzig/Halle,[3] Stuttgart
Finnair Seasonal: Helsinki
LOT Polish Airlines Seasonal: Budapest, Katowice,[4] Warsaw–Chopin[5]
Lufthansa Seasonal: Frankfurt
Luxair Seasonal: Luxembourg[6]
Norwegian Air Shuttle Seasonal: Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo
Ryanair Seasonal: Sofia,[7] Vienna
S7 Airlines Moscow–Domodedovo
SkyUp Seasonal: Kyiv–Boryspil[8]
Smartwings Seasonal: Brno, Lyon,[9] Nantes, Ostrava, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Prague
Sunclass Airlines Seasonal charter: Bergen, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo-Gardermoen, Stavanger, Stockholm-Arlanda, Trondheim
TUI Airways Seasonal: London–Gatwick, Manchester[10]
TUI fly Belgium Seasonal: Brussels, Ostend/Bruges
Seasonal charter: Lille, Nantes,[11] Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Turkish Airlines Istanbul
Volotea Seasonal: Nantes
Wizz Air Barcelona,[12] Bergamo, Berlin, Charleroi,[12][13] Cologne/Bonn, Dortmund, Eindhoven, Hahn,[12][13] Hamburg, Hannover,[12] Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden,[12] Larnaca, Liverpool, London–Luton, Memmingen, Nuremberg,[12] Prague,[14] Vienna
Seasonal: Salzburg, Tel Aviv[15]

Statistics[]

Traffic[]

See source Wikidata query and sources.

Traffic at Varna Airport
Year Domestic
passengers
Change International
passengers
Change Total
passengers
Change Aircraft
movements
Change
1998
35,208
238,470
273,678
1999
57,955
Increase 64.6%
453,864
Increase 90.3%
511,819
Increase 87%
2000
67,508
Increase 16.5%
624,181
Increase 37.5%
691,689
Increase 35.1%
9,425
2001
48,121
Decrease 28.7%
884,428
Increase 41.7%
932,549
Increase 34.8%
9,549
Increase 1.3%
2002
45,457
Decrease 5.5%
1,045,252
Increase 12.1%
1,090,709
Increase 16.9%
9,006
Decrease 5.7%
2003
41,583
Decrease 8.5%
1,144,766
Increase 9.5%
1,186,349
Increase 8.8%
10,107
Increase 12.2%
2004
47,575
Increase 14.4%
1,271,552
Increase 11.1%
1,319,127
Increase 11.2%
11,277
Increase 11.6%
2005
49,705
Increase 4.5%
1,496,175
Increase 17.7%
1,546,925
Increase 17.3%
13,616
Increase 20.7%
2006
54,243
Increase 9.1%
1,468,415
Decrease 1.8%
1,522,658
Decrease 1.6%
14,721
Increase 8.1%
2007
79,058
Increase 45.7%
1,399,035
Decrease 4.7%
1,478,093
Decrease 2.9%
14,971
Increase 1.7%
2008
119,459
Increase 51.1%
1,313,244
Decrease 6.1%
1,432,703
Decrease 3.1%
15,129
Increase 1.1%
2009
155,734
Increase 30.4%
1,050,801
Decrease 20%
1,206,535
Decrease 15.8%
12,699
Decrease 16.1%
2010
154,974
Decrease 0.5%
1,043,982
Decrease 0.6%
1,198,956
Decrease 0.6%
12,577
Decrease 1.0%
2011
117,431
Decrease 24.2%
1,046,453
Increase 0.2%
1,163,884
Decrease 2.9%
11,263
Decrease 10.4%
2012
126,952
Increase 8.1%
1,084,244
Increase 3.6%
1,211,196
Increase 4.1%
10,739
Decrease 4.7%
2013
130,668
Increase 2.9%
1,173,011
Increase 8.1%
1,303,679
Increase 7.6%
11,516
Increase 7.2%
2014
126,991
Decrease 2.8%
1,246,095
Increase 6.2%
1,387,494
Increase 5.2%
12,063
Increase 4.7%
2015
125,860
Decrease 0.9%
1,272,834
Increase 2.2%
1,398,694
Increase 0.8%
11,959
Decrease 0.9%
2016
134,548
Increase 6.9%[16]
1,536,594
Increase 20.7%
1,689,595
Increase 20.8%
14,818
Increase 23.9%
2017[17]
Increase
Increase
1,970,700
Increase 16.6%
15,950
Increase 7.6%
2018[18]
Increase
Increase
2,281,134
Increase 15.8%
17,776
Increase 11.4%
2019
Decrease
Decrease
2,084,319
Decrease 8.7%
15,468
Decrease 13.0%
2020[19]
Decrease
Decrease
622,215
Decrease 70.1%
6,881
Decrease 55.5%
2021 (January)[20]
Decrease
Decrease
20,468
Decrease 72.0%
270
Decrease 57.5%

Ground transport[]

Bus line 409 connects the airport with Varna city center and resorts nearby (route: Varna Airport – Mall Varna – Varna Bus Station / Grand Mall – City Center – Saints Constantine and Helena - Golden Sands).[21]

Incidents and accidents[]

  • On 5 June 1992, Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Tupolev 154B overran runway 27 in bad weather conditions. There were no casualties, but the plane was written off.[22]
  • On 24 May 2013, Air VIA flight 502 from Leipzig/Halle to Varna overran runway 09 at Varna Airport after touchdown. Two passengers were injured during evacuation.[23][24]
  • On July 8, 2014, Lars Mittank, a German vacationing in Golden Sands, mysteriously disappeared near Varna Airport. Mittank had been alone in Bulgaria the previous two days and reported to be behaving strangely, and was last seen on security cameras fleeing from the airport into the surrounding forest.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Varna Airport Closes for Runway Overhaul in October". Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  2. ^ "Flight Search". www.varna-airport.com. 10 September 2020.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c Liu, Jim. "Eurowings expands Varna service in 3Q20". Routesonline. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  4. ^ "LOT wykona z Katowic rejsy czarterowe dla Rainbow Tours". pasazer.com.
  5. ^ "Nowe trasy z Polski. Przewoźnik zapowiada inauguracyjny rejs". tvn24bis.pl.
  6. ^ https://www.luxair.lu/en/destinations/varna
  7. ^ https://www.ryanair.com/bg/bg
  8. ^ Liu, Jim. "SkyUp Airlines S19 network expansion summary as of 01JUL19". Routesonline. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  9. ^ "SmartWings.com - Cheap flights not only around Europe". www.smartwings.com.
  10. ^ "Flight Timetable - TUI Airways". www.tui.co.uk.
  11. ^ TUI fly Belgium begin seasonal service to Varna on route Lille-Varna-Nantes-Lille
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f https://flightzone.bg/wizz-air-3-ti-samolet-varna-2020/
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b Liu, Jim. "Wizz Air further expands new routes launch in S20". Routesonline. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  14. ^ Liu, Jim. "Wizz Air S20 new routes addition as of 09JUN20". Routesonline. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  15. ^ money.bg (12 July 2018). "Wizz Air спира полетите до 8 дестинации от София и Варна".
  16. ^ "Главна дирекция "Гражданска въздухоплавателна администрация"". www.caa.bg.
  17. ^ http://www.fraport.com/content/fraport/en/misc/binaer/traffic-figures/traffic-figures-fraport-group/2017/monthly-traffic-figures/traffic-sheet-en/jcr:content.file/traffic-sheet-2017-december_en.pdf
  18. ^ "Monthly traffic figures" (PDF). 2018.
  19. ^ "Monthly traffic figures" (PDF). 2020.
  20. ^ "Monthly traffic figures" (PDF). 2020.
  21. ^ "Начало". Archived from the original on 1 September 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  22. ^ Harro Ranter (5 June 1992). "ASN Aircraft accident Tupolev 154B LZ-BTD Varna Airport (VAR)". Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  23. ^ "Морски - Самолет излезе от пистата на летище Варна, две жени са със счупени крайници (допълнена и видео) - видео - Dnevnik.bg". www.dnevnik.bg. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  24. ^ "The Aviation Herald". Retrieved 7 June 2015.

External links[]

Media related to Varna Airport at Wikimedia Commons

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