Eastern Europe Property

Lowcost airlines Norwegian Air Shuttle and Sterling announced in their timetables weekly flights to Bulgarian seaside resorts of Varna and Burgas between April and October.

Norwegian Air Shuttle will fly to Varna on Bulgaria’s northern Black Sea coastline and Burgas in the southern part of the seaboard every Saturday. Sterling will fly to Varna on Sundays.

Scandinavian tourists are the third most numerous group in Bulgarian seaside resorts, after German and Russian tourists.

Norwegian Air Shuttle started operating four domestic routes in 2002, later expanding to ten destinations inside the country and 60 across Europe.

It transported 5,1 million people last year and is a member of the European Low Fares Airlines Association. The company operates 20 Boeing 737-300, according to the data on its website.

Sterling is the successor to Denmark’s Sterling Airways, founded in 1962, which targeted the low-fare segment of the market in 2002, after years of declining revenues.

It transported 5,3 million people between Scandinavian countries and southern Europe last year. The company operates 29 Boeing 737 planes.

Irish low fares airline Ryanair is preparing to open destinations to Bulgaria’s second largest city of Plovdiv.

The company, headquartered in Dublin, will connect the southern Bulgarian city with airports in the UK, Spain and Germany, following the densest Bulgarian emigrant populaces in Europe.

Sofia Airport is also negotiating with Ryanair, as well as with British no-frills airline EasyJet, according to local press reports.

Ryanair is one of Europe’s largest low-cost carriers and one of Europe’s most successful airlines, operating on 362 routes to 22 countries. Ryanair has been characterized by rapid expansion, a result of the deregulation of the air industry in Europe in 1997.

In 2002 Ryanair launched 26 new routes and established a hub in Frankfurt-Hahn Airport.

In 2003, Ryanair announced the order of a further 100 new Boeing 737-800 series aircraft from Boeing, and in February a third continental base was opened at Milan-Bergamo in Italy.

Currently Ryanair operates 12 European hubs, another ten new hubs they intend to establish over the next seven years.

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A total of 135 passengers, including UK Ambassador to Bulgaria Jeremy Hill, arrived in Varna on Wednesday evening with the first British Airways flight London-Varna-London.

By the end of May the company will perform two flights each week, on Wednesday and on Saturday. Starting June 5 the number of weekly flights will increase to four.

The two-way ticket costs EUR 200.

Last year, the number of foreign tourists entering Bulgaria increased by 14.4% to 4.6 million, with many of these heading to seaside resorts such as Varna.

Airlines have been quick to pick up on the demand for Bulgarian flights.