Varna Airport

Varna Airport Aksakovo Airport Летище Варна
File:Varna-airport logo.gif
IATA: VAR ICAO: LBWN VAR Location of airport in Bulgaria
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Fraport Twin Star Airport Management
Serves	Varna
Standort	Aksakovo, Bulgaria
Hub for	Air VIA BH Air Bulgaria Air Bulgarian Air Charter
Elevation AMSL	70 m / 230 ft
Coordinates	43°13′55″N 27°49′30″E
Website	www.varna-airport.com
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 09/27 2,500 8,202 Asphalt
Statistics (2012)
Passengers 1,211,196

Varna Airport (Bulgarian: Летище Варна, Letishte Varna) (IATA: VAR, ICAO: LBWN) and also known as Aksakovo Airport is the airport of Varna, the historical maritime capital of Bulgaria. Varna Airport is the third largest airport in Bulgaria. The airport is located in Aksakovo and 10 kilometers from the center of Varna.

In 2012, the airport is handled 1,211,196 passengers, a 4.1% increase compared to 1,163,884 handled in 2011.

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 erected in 1972 and a new runway in 1974.

There are domestic and international flights 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 concrete pavement runway 09/27 with ILS CAT I system on 09 edge and a parking apron for 24 aircraft.

Future plans and expansion

Currently, Varna Airport is subject to heavy traffic with the growing tourism industry in Bulgaria and is in need of major investments to modernize, expand and handle projected passenger traffic. 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 on Bourgas Airport.

Terminals

The airport has two terminals: Terminal 1, which is in use year-round, and Terminal 3 (opened in June 2007), which is used during the summer season. Terminal 2 is being built.

Terminal 1

Varna Airport Terminal 1.

Terminal 1 at Varna Airport was built in 1972, and has been extended several times over the years. The departures area has 21 check-in counters and six security checkpoints. In the terminal there are various outlets: cafes, fast food restaurants, currency exchange, and duty-free shops. There are ten boarding gates. The arrivals area has two luggage belts, as well as currency exchange and a tax-free shop. Terminal 1 of the Varna airport has a VIP room and business lounge. In 2010 the VIP room at Varna Airport was renovated.

Terminal 2

In December 2011 began construction work on new Terminal 2. The new terminal will have a capacity of 1,800,000 passengers and 25 check-in desks and covers an area of 18,000m2.The new terminal buildings are designed so that it can their capacity, if necessary, be further increased as an extension to the existing architectural part.Construction of new terminal should be completed by the summer of 2013.

Terminal 3

Terminal 3 was opened on June 18, 2007. The total covered area is 6000 m². The summer terminal has nine check-in counters in the departures area, and two luggage belts in the arrivals area. There are four boarding gates.

New terminal due to open in summer 2013 at Varna airport the project has already started with a brand new terminal and new flights to Varna

Airlines and destinations

BH Air Airbus A320 at Varna Airport

Bulgarian Air Charter McDonnell Douglas MD-82 LZ-LDP at Varna Airport.

There are domestic and international flights to about 75 destinations in 29 countries, more than 64 Bulgarian and foreign airlines. The busiest season for the airport is from the end of May to the beginning of October.

Scheduled flights

Airlines	Destinations
Austrian Airlines operated by Tyrolean Airways	Vienna
Bulgaria Air	Burgas, Sofia Seasonal: London-Gatwick (resumes 24 May 2013), Moscow-Sheremetyevo (resumes 30 May 2013), Moscow-Vnukovo, St. Petersburg (resumes 28 May 2013)
Lufthansa	Seasonal: Düsseldorf (begins 26 July 2013)
Luxair	Seasonal: Luxembourg (resumes 11 May 2013)
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Seasonal: Oslo-Gardermoen (resumes 26 June 2013)
Rossiya	Seasonal: St. Petersburg (resumes 24 May 2013)
S7 Airlines	Moscow-Domodedovo Seasonal: Novosibirsk (resumes 15 June 2013)
Ural Airlines	Seasonal: Yekaterinburg (resumes 31 May 2013)
Wizz Air	London-Luton Seasonal: Budapest (resumes 17 June 2013)

Seasonal Charter flights

Airlines	Destinations
Adria Airways	Ljubljana (resumes 24 June 2013)
Air Onix	Kyiv-Zhuliany (begins 7 June 2013)
Air VIA	Berlin-Schönefeld (resumes 1 June 2013), Cologne/Bonn (resumes 18 May 2013), Dresden (resumes 29 May 2013), Düsseldorf (resumes 27 May 2013), Frankfurt (resumes 19 May 2013), Hamburg (resumes 10 June 2013), Hannover (resumes 20 May 2013), Leipzig/Halle (resumes 24 May 2013), Munich (resumes 3 June 2013), Nuremberg (resumes 3 June 2013), Prague (resumes 4 June 2013), Stuttgart (resumes 23 May 2013), Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion
Aviatrans Kiev	Kyiv-Zhuliany (begins 31 May 2013)
Belavia	Minsk-National (resumes 1 June 2013)
BH Air	Birmingham (resumes 18 May 2013), Manchester (resumes 17 May 2013), Newcastle upon Tyne (resumes 18 May 2013), Nottingham/East Midlands (resumes 18 May 2013), Zürich (resumes 18 June 2013)
Bulgaria Air	Basel/Mulhouse (resumes 29 June 2013), Beirut (resumes 10 July 2013), Copenhagen (begins 30 June 2013), Helsinki (begins 3 June 2013), Kaliningrad (begins 11 June 2013), Katowice (begins 4 July 2013), Kuwait (resumes 10 August 2013), Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion (resumes 19 May 2013), Yerevan (begins 26 June 2013), Zürich (begins 29 June 2013)
Bulgarian Air Charter	Antalya (begins 31 August 2013), Bari (begins 29 July), Beirut (resumes 2 July 2013), Berlin-Schönefeld (resumes 19 May 2013), Dresden (resumes 18 May 2013), Düsseldorf (resumes 23 March 2013), Erfurt (resumes 19 May 2013), Frankfurt (resumes 23 March 2013), Hamburg (resumes 12 May 2013), Hannover (resumes 20 May 2013), Katowice, Kuwait (resumes 21 June 2013), Leipzig/Halle (resumes 12 May 2013), Munich (resumes 18 May 2013), Münster/Osnabrück (resumes 20 May 2013), Naples (begins 29 July 2013), Nuremberg (resumes 18 May 2013), Riga (begins 24 May 2013), Stuttgart (resumes 19 May 2013), Tallinn (resumes 30 May 2013), Tehran-Imam Khomeini (resumes 14 June 2013), Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion (resumes 9 May 2013), Vienna (resumes 18 May 2013), Warsaw-Chopin (resumes 2 June 2013), Wroclaw (resumes 5 July 2013), Yerevan (resumes 27 June 2013)
Edelweiss Air	Zürich (resumes 8 July 2013)
Edelweiss Air operated by Swiss International Air Lines	Zürich (resumes 7 August 2013)
Enter Air	Gdańsk (resumes 8 June 2013), Poznań (resumes 7 June 2013), Warsaw-Chopin (resumes 7 June 2013)
Finnair	Helsinki (resumes 24 May 2013)
Germania	Berlin-Tegel (resumes 17 May 2013), Bremen (begins 31 May 2013), Düsseldorf (resumes 17 May 2013), Frankfurt (resumes 17 May 2013), Hamburg (resumes 17 May 2013), Hannover (resumes 17 May 2013), Leipzig/Halle (resumes 17 May 2013), Munich (resumes 16 May 2013)
German Sky Airlines	Cologne/Bonn (resumes 5 June 2013), Düsseldorf (resumes 27 May 2013), Leipzig/Halle (resumes 5 June 2013), Nuremberg (begins 27 May 2013)
Germanwings	Cologne/Bonn (resumes 19 May 2013)
I-Fly	Moscow-Vnukovo (begins 3 June 2013)
Jetairfly	Brussels)
Kolavia	Moscow-Domodedovo (resumes 27 May 2013)
Lufthansa	Düsseldorf (begins 26 July 2013)
Malmö Aviation	Aalborg (begins 25 June 2013), Billund (resumes 25 June 2013), Copenhagen (resumes 25 June 2013), Odense (begins 25 June 2013)
Moskovia Airlines	Moscow-Domodedovo (resumes 3 June 2013)
NordStar	Moscow-Domodedovo (resumes 10 May 2013), St. Petersburg (resumes 31 May 2013)
Orenair	Moscow-Domodedovo (begins 3 June 2013), Omsk (begins 14 June 2013), Orenburg (begins 13 June 2013)
Primera Air	Billund (resumes 30 May 2013), Copenhagen (resumes 30 May 2013), Helsinki (begins 30 May 2013), Pori (begins 16 May 2013)
Scandinavian Airlines	Helsinki (begins 26 May 2013)
Small Planet Airlines	Vilnius (resumes 28 May 2013)
Small Planet Airlines Polska	Katowice (resumes 3 June 2013), Warsaw-Chopin (resumes 4 June 2013)
SmartLynx Airlines	Riga (resumes 6 May 2013), Vilnius (resumes 6 May 2013)
SunExpress Deutschland	Frankfurt (resumes 17 May 2013), Leipzig/Halle (begins 17 May 2013)
Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium	Brussels (resumes 13 May 2013)
Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia	Bergen (begins 16 June 2013), Gothenburg-Landvetter (begins 10 June 2013), Helsinki (resumes 26 May 2013), Oslo-Gardermoen (resumes 27 May 2013), Stavanger (resumes 27 May 2013), Stockholm-Arlanda (begins 27 June 2013), Trondheim (resumes 27 May 2013)
Transaero Airlines	Moscow-Domodedovo (resumes 31 May 2013), Moscow-Sheremetyevo (resumes 31 May 2013), St. Petersburg (resumes 17 May 2013)
Transavia.com France	Paris-Orly (begins 17 May 2013)
Travel Service Airlines	Prague (resumes 2 June 2013)
Travel Service Poland	Warsaw-Chopin (resumes 7 June 2013)
Travel Service Slovakia	Bratislava (begins 18 June 2013)
TUIfly	Hannover (begins 20 May 2013)
Ukraine International Airlines	Kiev-Borispyl (resumes 31 May 2013)
Ural Airlines	Nizhny Novgorod (resumes 31 May 2013), Perm (resumes 3 June 2013), Samara (resumes 31 May 2013), St. Petersburg (begins 28 May 2013)
UTair Aviation	Rostov-on-Don (resumes 5 June 2013), Surgut (resumes 22 May 2013)
VIM Airlines	Moscow-Domodedovo (resumes 15 May 2013)
Wind Rose Aviation	Kiev-Boryspil (resumes 31 May 2013)

Destinations map

Destinations map
'Varna class=notpageimage| All-year and seasonal destinations from Varna Airport

Traffic figures

Traffic at Varna Airport

Ground handling

Varna Airport Passenger Traffic Statistics

Year	Domestic	Ändern Sie	International	Ändern Sie	Total	Ändern Sie
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%
2001	48,121	28.7%	884,428	41.7%	932,549	34.8%
2002	45,457	5.5%	1,045,252	12.1%	1,090,709	16.9%
2003	41,583	8.5%	1,144,766	9.5%	1,186,349	8.8%
2004	47,575	14.4%	1,271,552	11.1%	1,319,127	11.2%
2005	49,705	4.5%	1,496,175	17.7%	1,546,925	17.3%
2006	54,243	9.1%	1,468,415	1.8%	1,522,658	1.6%
2007	79,058	45.7%	1,399,035	4.7%	1,478,093	2.9%
2008	119,459	51.1%	1,313,244	6.1%	1,432,703	3.1%
2009	155,734	30.4%	1,050,801	20%	1,206,535	15.8%
2010	154,974	0.5%	1,043,982	0.6%	1,198,956	0.6%
2011	117,431	24.2%	1,046,453	0.2%	1,163,884	2.9%
2012	126,952	8.1%	1,084,244	3.6%	1,211,196	4.1%

Transport links

Bus

The Airport Bus stop to Varna and nearby resorts is located just outside Terminal 1.

Line № 409 Route: Varna Airport – Mall Varna – Varna Coach Station – City Center (the Cathedral) – Golden Sands Resort

Taxi

The taxi piazza are located in front of Terminal 1 "Departures". A taxi ride from Varna Airport to the city center takes approx 15 minutes, depending on the traffic intensity and will cost around 7–15 Leva. Varna Airport has contract for taxi services with "OK Taxi"".

Parking

The parking of Varna Airport is located front of Terminal 1. The car parking is accessible 24 hours a day.

See also

• List of airports in Bulgaria
• List of airlines of Bulgaria
• List of the busiest airports in Europe by passenger traffic

External links

• Varna Airport Homepage
• History of Varna Airport