Varna Airport

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.

Varna Airport

Летище Варна
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
Websitevarna-airport
Map
VAR
Location of airport in Bulgaria
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
09/27 2,517 8,258 Asphalt
Statistics (2019)
Passengers2,084,319 8.7%
Aircraft movements15,468 13.0%
Source: Bulgarian AIP at EUROCONTROL

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). 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. 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.

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. 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.

Airlines and destinations

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

AirlinesDestinations
Austrian Airlines Vienna
Bulgaria Air Sofia
Seasonal charter: Nur-Sultan, Moscow–Sheremetyevo, Tel Aviv, Moscow–Vnukovo, Yerevan
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, Warsaw–Chopin[4]
Seasonal charter: Katowice[5]
Lufthansa Seasonal: Munich
Luxair Seasonal: Luxembourg[6]
Norwegian Air Shuttle Seasonal: Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo
Pobeda Seasonal: Moscow–Vnukovo[7]
Ryanair Seasonal: Vienna
S7 Airlines Moscow–Domodedovo
SkyUp Seasonal: Kyiv–Boryspil[8]
Smartwings Seasonal: Brno, Lyon,[9] Nantes, Ostrava, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Prague
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] Salzburg,[12] Vienna
Seasonal: Tel Aviv[15]

Statistics

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

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).[20]

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.[21]
  • 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.[22][23]
  • On July 8, 2014, Lars Mittank, a German student 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. Liu, Jim. "Eurowings expands Varna service in 3Q20". Routesonline. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  4. "Nowe trasy z Polski. Przewoźnik zapowiada inauguracyjny rejs". tvn24bis.pl.
  5. "LOT wykona z Katowic rejsy czarterowe dla Rainbow Tours". pasazer.com.
  6. https://www.luxair.lu/en/destinations/varna
  7. "Pobeda Airlines LLC, Aeroflot Group - Flights schedule". www.pobeda.aero.
  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. https://flightzone.bg/wizz-air-3-ti-samolet-varna-2020/
  13. 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. "Начало". Archived from the original on 1 September 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  21. Harro Ranter (5 June 1992). "ASN Aircraft accident Tupolev 154B LZ-BTD Varna Airport (VAR)". Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  22. "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.
  23. "The Aviation Herald". Retrieved 7 June 2015.

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