Bulgaria’s Sofia Airport: Traffic ‘slowly recovering’
In March 2022, traffic at Sofia Airport was again still far from pre-pandemic levels, the airport said on April 10.
Passenger numbers at the airport in Bulgaria’s capital city were 31 per cent lower than in March 2019, the airport said.
“However, if we compare with the results of 2021, we see an increase of 269 000 more passengers,” it said.
International passenger traffic was down by 31 per cent compared to March 2019, but the increase compared to last year was almost 260 000 passengers, Sofia Airport said.
Domestic travellers were down by more than 32 per cent compared to the same period in the pre-recession period of 2019, but up 77 per cent compared to March 2021.
Aircraft movements were also down 22 per cent on 2019, when the number of aircraft taking off and landing reached 3797. Last March there were 2210.
The airport also reported a decline in cargo and mail shipments handled for the period, with 1701 tonnes.
“The war in Ukraine as well as fuel price increases are impacting the entire aviation sector and hindering a rapid recovery in traffic,” Sofia Airport chief executive Jesús Caballero said.
“We expect the easing of anti-Covid measures to have a positive impact on air travel, but we are still a long way from pre-pandemic levels,” Caballero said.
“The Sofia Airport team is working to open new scheduled and seasonal flights, some of which are already part of our summer schedule,” he said.
(Photo: Sofia Airport)
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