Burgas Airport will rehabilitate its runway during the 2025-2026 winter season. The concessionaire of the two Black Sea airports Varna and Burgas Fraport Twin Star Airport Management will invest 50 million euro in the project.
The full renovation of the runway will require the temporary closure of the airport for a period of half a year during the 2025-2026 winter months. According to the concessionaire, in order to minimise the impact on the tourist season, the renovation works will be carried out exclusively during the winter months - in the period November 2025 - April 2026, and it is the intention of Fraport Twin Star Airport Management to keep the closure period as short as possible.
The rehabilitation of the runway is part of the concession programme. In September 2022, Fraport Twin Star's concessions for the two airports were extended by five years to 10 November 2046, with the concessionaire committing to invest a total of 413 million euro over the life of the contract, including a 10 million euro increase on the concession extension. The concession company is jointly operated by Fraport and a company of the Varna-based Chimimport Group.
The new runaway
"The runway at Burgas Airport was built in 1962 and further modernised in 1980," the concessionaire says. Due to its age and technical condition, a complete rehabilitation is necessary for the safety of its operation.
"The rehabilitation will be the basis for absorbing the expected traffic volumes over the next two decades," it added.
"In preparation for safe operations during the summer traffic season in 2025, three weeks of runway maintenance work is required, which is also scheduled during the low traffic month prior to the busy season - March 2025. Avoiding negative impacts on traffic and tourism is a key objective for Fraport Twin Star Airport Management plc during the runway rehabilitation and all other maintenance work," the company wrote.
The total investment, nearly 50 million euro, will be invested in the rehabilitation of the pavement, surrounding areas, drainage and a new lighting system. The period in question will also be used to make further investments in the platform areas. The company also points out that the planning of this project has been carried out "with specialists with international experience from the Fraport Group and reputable external companies."
Concession in development
The rehabilitation of the runway is part of the five-year programme between 2022 and 2026.
For 2023, the concessionaire of the Varna and Burgas airports, Fraport Twin Star Airport Management, has revenues of BGN 85 million and growth of 48%. Passenger numbers, on the other hand, were 3.1 million, 37% lower than 2019 levels.
Last year, Varna and Burgas airports handled more than 3.7 million passengers and more than 27,000 flights of 70 Bulgarian and foreign airlines operating charter and scheduled flights to more than 105 destinations in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
Burgas Airport will rehabilitate its runway during the 2025-2026 winter season. The concessionaire of the two Black Sea airports Varna and Burgas Fraport Twin Star Airport Management will invest 50 million euro in the project.
The full renovation of the runway will require the temporary closure of the airport for a period of half a year during the 2025-2026 winter months. According to the concessionaire, in order to minimise the impact on the tourist season, the renovation works will be carried out exclusively during the winter months - in the period November 2025 - April 2026, and it is the intention of Fraport Twin Star Airport Management to keep the closure period as short as possible.
