Passenger Traffic at Sofia Airport Up by 3% Y/Y in July

Sofia Airport registered a monthly slowdown in passenger traffic growth in July.

In July 2011 Sofia Airport serviced a total of 336.5 passengers, up by 3% compared to the same month in 2010, according to a media statement of the company.

In June 2011, however, the annual increase settled at 6% and the half-year growth came in at 8.4%.

In July 2011, passenger traffic at the airport in Bulgaria's capital went up by 8.6% on the month.

Over 90% of the people traveled on international flights, while domestic flights accounted for as little as 9.3% of the passenger flow.

Despite that, the share of domestic flights keeps rising fast, with a 50% annual increase in the number of people traveling from the capital to Burgas and Varna on the Black Sea coast.

At the same time, passengers on international flights went up by 3% on the year.

The hikes in passenger traffic on both domestic and international routes are the result of the increased number of flights offered by airline companies.

In July 2011 Sofia Airport processed a total of 25 500 passengers traveling within the country, registering a 53% annual increase.

The number of people using tourist charter flights fell by 1400.

Sofia Airport also reported a slight decrease in take-offs and landings of business aircraft.

Cargo traffic also went up in July, reaching a total of 1435 tons, or 11% up from the same month in 2010.

Sofia Airport expects to see an increase in passenger flow to 3.5 M by the end of 2011.

The state-owned company plans to expand the capacities of the runway and of the two terminals, which can currently handle 4 million people.