VARNA AND BURGAS AIRPORTS TO HAVE NEW PASSANGER TERMINALS BY MID-`09

Bulgarian coastal airports Varna and Burgas will have new passenger terminals by mid-2009, said Andreas Helfer, general executive director of Fraport Twin Star Airport Management which manages the two facilities under a 35-year concession arrangement. The new terminals will streamline the check-in and luggage inspection process and will allow checked-in passengers to shop and have access to all other services available at EU airport lounges, said Helfer.

The 60 mln euro cost of the new terminals will be covered by bank loans and the company shareholders.

A public procurement procedure has already been launched for the technical design of the Burgas terminal. Helfer said construction should get underway in 2007.

The airport operator plans to renovate the taxiways ahead of the summer tourist season. A more comprehensive reconstruction of the taxiways and the runways will be done in the off-season.

Fraport plans to invest 20 mln euro in the two airports in 2007, said Helfer. The investment program includes environmental protection measures. New incinerators for the biological waste produced by the airports will be installed.

The concessionaire will spend some 6 mln euro this year to streamline the electricity transmission grid of the airport sites and to ensure fail-safe power supply.

Fraport Twin Star Airport Management, a partnership between Germany's Fraport and Varna-based company BM Star, was granted the airport concession contract in 2006.

Dnevnik a.m., 14.03.07

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