After a pandemic-induced delay, Sofia Airport's new, third terminal should be ready by April 2031. The investment will be worth 500 million levs and its construction is due to start in April 2026, by which time the building permit ought to be obtained. This was announced by Jesus Caballero, CEO of the airport's concessionaire SOF Connect, during the presentation of the conceptual design of Terminal 3, completed in July.
The terminal is to be finalized by the end of the tenth year of the 35-year concession agreement. The company entered the airport operationally in the spring of 2021 and has committed to invest 1.2 billion levs in the airport. The main shareholder in the airport operator is the Meridiam fund.
The operator is currently in the process of redeveloping Terminal 2 and the new facility will effectively be integrated into it. The plan is to increase the airport's capacity to 20 million passengers per year, up from 7.2 million in 2023, in an attempt to make Sofia Airport a regional hub that would attract more flight traffic.
The goal: 20 million passengers per year
The new terminal, planned to embrace 65,000 sq. m., will be connected to the current Terminal 2. The building will have four levels: Level minus 1 - designed for technical operations; Level 0 for arrivals and baggage claim; Level 1 for departures, security screening, dining and retail space; and Level 2 - areas for connecting flights and corridors for arrivals from outside Schengen and the EU.
Together, the two terminals will have 34 gates with a common check-in area, which will have 52 check-in counters. The security area will also be common. It will have 13 lines and a capacity of 3,250 passengers per hour. The airport's baggage system will handle 2,400 bags per hour. Its development has already been awarded to Alstef Group for 20 million levs. The luggage lanes in the arrival area will increase to 6.
The commercial area will cover 10,000 sq. m. The concessionaire company has announced that passengers will have access to all gates within five minutes of the central commercial area. The design of Terminal 3 has been developed by the Bulgarian architectural firm IPA in collaboration with international engineering firms Egis and 1PAX. The operator's goal is for Terminal 3 to attain a 5-Star SkyTrax certification - the first such certification for a regional airport in Europe.
First comes Terminal 2
Currently, the operator is reconstructing Terminal 2, which should be completed by mid-2026. According to the company's report, 38% of the investments committed for the first five-year period of the contract - 150 million levs - have been realized by the end of 2023.
One of the largest contracts announced by the airport so far is with French consortium Alstef Group for a baggage handling system worth 20 million levs. Another large procurement is for the renovation of the covered car park for nearly 24.5 million levs, won by Glavbolgarstroy.
In the spring of 2022, it was announced that the Swiss Dufry would take over the activities in the shopping areas for a period of 8,5 years, and would operate a total of 13 stores, 11 of which will be duty-free and 2 duty-paid. SOF Connect had expected construction of the new 2,000 sq. m. shopping area to start last summer and be ready before Christmas, but a lack of permits has stalled the process.
The plan is to have the large retail area on one side and the food court on the other after the border check, with everything currently existing being temporary. SOF Connect has signed a contract for its food and beverage area with UK-based SSP, the operator of F&B outlets in travel locations.
"Among the brands that will appear at Sofia Airport are Starbucks, Burger King and TGI Fridays, as well as established, internationally recognized SSP brands such as Levito - Pizza Pasta, Negroni, Camden Food Co., Ta.Sh.Ba, Upper Crust, Soul & Grain, Dao Dao - Asian cuisine, and locals - Meshana - Taste of Bulgaria and Bar 09-27," the airport representatives have said. The project will be implemented in several phases, starting with the first two outlets - Starbucks and Camden Food Co. which are expected to be operational in early 2025.
Genesis of the concession
During the tender for the airport, SOF Connect offered to pay the initial concession fee of 550 million levs excluding VAT and to make a total investment of 608 million euro spread over several periods. This was the lowest investment offer out of five bidders for the airport. Subsequently, the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, which grounded the aviation industry, and the initial offer underwent several adjustments, eventually increasing the total investment by 16 million euro to 624 million euro in total.
During the last Boyko Borissov government, Transport Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov ordered that the concessionaire be exempt from paying concession fees (24.5 million euros per year, or 32% of the total revenue) during the first 10 years of the concession, and must pay them at the end. Although in 2023 passengers exceeded those in 2019, it is currently not expected that the fee payment will start before the tenth year.
After a pandemic-induced delay, Sofia Airport's new, third terminal should be ready by April 2031. The investment will be worth 500 million levs and its construction is due to start in April 2026, by which time the building permit ought to be obtained. This was announced by Jesus Caballero, CEO of the airport's concessionaire SOF Connect, during the presentation of the conceptual design of Terminal 3, completed in July.
The terminal is to be finalized by the end of the tenth year of the 35-year concession agreement. The company entered the airport operationally in the spring of 2021 and has committed to invest 1.2 billion levs in the airport. The main shareholder in the airport operator is the Meridiam fund.
