So why invest in Sofia airport when the natural choice of location for an all-weather and all-year round airport does not lie in a valley?
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| Sofia airport |
Bulgaria's Sofia Airport is set to demolish its old Terminal 1 building complex, seeking to construct a new terminal on the same location within five years, Sofia Airport CEO Veselin Peykov has announced.
In October 2012, Sofia Airport serviced a total of 285,216 arriving and departing passengers, 1,400 more than in the same month last year. The highest growth in the number of transported passengers was registered by the airlines NIKI (Air Berlin), Austrian Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Olympic Air, Air France, Aeroflot and Bulgaria Air.
Cargo flights reported some 10% increase, compared to last October and flights on domestic routes registered a 29% growth. In October 2012, Sofia Airport handled 1,507 tonnes of cargo and parcels, 1% more than in the same month of last year. Specialised cargo flights transported 20% more cargo than in October 2011. Cargo companies specifically look for infrastructure hubs, road, rail and air.
It has also been announced that a new “mega” toll-road will be constructed from Svilengrad on the border with Turkey and Greece to Ruse on the south bank of the River Danube bordering Romania. Qatar has already pledged support for the construction of this North-South highway and furthermore, during a visit to
Veliko Tarnovo this year Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, said publicly that the airport will be revived with the restoration of the cargo terminal in order to export meat to Qatar. He was quoted as saying “exporting meat products from Gorna Oryahovitsa and as a consequence develop a container terminal, this would protect and stimulate further new developments and regeneration”.
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| Gorna Oryahovitsa Airport located North of Veliko Tarnovo |
The Mayor of
Veliko Tarnovo, Daniel Panov, has said “there have been multiple queries and interest in the airport” and colleague the Mayor of
Gorna Oryahovitsa, Dobromir Dobrev, are both confident that by the end of the new concession extension period (3rd December this year) there will be a positive step in the right direction.
The pertinent details of the concession are:-
• The concession site is an airport for public use in Gorna Oryahovitza, including;
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A large amount of Real Estate and land
included in the concession's territory |
• Concession territory with a total area of 2,115,405 sq. m., consisting of land property № 16359.506.1 with an area of 2,093,523 sq. m.; № 16359.506.2 with an area of 2,948 sq. m.; No. 16359.506.3 with an area of 8,586 sq. m. and No. 16359.506.4 with an area of 10,348 sq. m., all located in the locality of Ashova, according to the scheme and coordinates that are an integral part of the tender documents and concession contract.
• The buildings, located in the territory under item 1.1. with identifiers under the cadastre registry, as follows: from No. 16359.506.1.18 to No. 16359.506.1.21; No. 16359.506.1.30; from No. 16359.506.1.34 to No. 16359.506.1.36, located in property No. 16359.506.1 and others, as per the tender documentation and the concession agreement
• Facilities and equipment as per the tender documentation and the concession agreement 9.2. To the subject of concession are also included the buildings, facilities and equipment to be built and/or installed by the concessionaire at their own risk and using their own funds in a manner described in the concession agreement
• Type of procedure: open procedure
• Amount of guarantee for participation in the procedure and conditions for its payment or delivery: value: 50000 EUR
• Validity of tenders: 360 calendar days after the date of submission of the tender
• Place and date for receipt of tender documents for the procedure: Location: Republic of Bulgaria, Sofia 1000, Ministry of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications, 9 “Diakon Ignatiy” str., rooms 1003 and 1004
• Date: 30.11.2012 Hour: 17:00 hours
• Price and method of payment for the tender documents: Price in figures: 5,200
• Language of the tenders: Bulgarian
• Place and date for receipt of tenders: Republic of Bulgaria, Sofia 1000, Ministry of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications, 9 “Diakon Ignatiy” str., rooms 1001
• Date: 03.12.2012 Hour: 17:00 hours
• Place and date of opening of tenders: Republic of Bulgaria, Sofia 1000, Ministry of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications, 9 “Diakon Ignatiy” str., hall No. 3
• Date: 06.12.2012 Hours: 10:00 hours
So getting back to Sofia; Peykov has told the Bulgarian National Television that constructing a new terminal in the place of the old one would save money. Noting that Terminal 1 has serviced tens of millions of passengers since it was opened in 1937, Peykov has explained that "times are different now" and a more modern terminal is necessary. He revealed that the new terminal would have the capacity to service some 5 million passengers per year, or twice as many as the airport's other existing terminal, Terminal 2. The new terminal is expected to have 16 to 18 passenger boarding bridges and a car parking lot consisting of several levels. The Sofia Airport should be offered on concession, Peykov has also stated. "We may even consider privatizing the whole airport. Private-owned airports exist in many places in Europe and around the world," the CEO has pointed out.
So I go back to my question, why invest in Sofia airport when the natural choice of location for an all-weather and all-year round airport does not lie in a valley?
January 11th 2011, news;
“Sofia Airport has experienced another difficult day with flights cancelled, delayed or redirected to different airports.
Heavy fog has been in place over Sofia and much of Bulgaria for more than 36 hours now, as many regions in the country are being classified with Code Yellow status, according to Meteoalarm, the official website of Europe’s national weather services.
The airport is operating with limited capacity and flights are departing and landing with significant delays. Flights to Vienna and Budapest have been grounded altogether, Bulgarian National Television reported on January 11 2011.
Overnight, Bulgaria Air and Swiss Air flights were redirected to Varna and Bourgas airports instead because of poor visibility in Sofia”.
This account is by no way an irregular occurrence, so why not invest in a new terminal at an airport in North Central Bulgaria?
This airport (whose concession expires within 12 days) is adjacent to a new toll road with Asia-East Europe road haulage and adjacent to the biggest rail holding yard in Bulgaria and in the NATIONAL ERTMS DEPLOYMENT PLAN OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA, rail corridor 11, linking Greece, Turkey (corridor 10) and Romania.
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De-icing a Russian Aeroflot Airbus,
this could be a regular site at Gorna Oryahovitsa airport |
Its weather is particularly favorable, needs little immediate investment, allegedly a “blind landing system” and de-icing equipment are the main components.
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| Capable of handling the world's largest cargo planes |
So I genuinely hope that someone out there will “think a little out of the box” and look at this golden opportunity and if necessary the government grant a further extension for the concession, whilst businesses and investors analyse the potential of Gorna Oryahovitsa airport and its exciting new infrastructure that will inevitably lead to this region being a transportation hub of South East Europe!
