Bulgaria

Airports

There are a total of five international airports within five hours drive of Primorsko. The closest is Burgas Airport, which is just 40 minutes drive time. Varna and Plovdiv Airport offer more flights in the winter, but fewer in summer, while Istanbul Airport offers a large number of destinations throughout the year.

Burgas Airport

Burgas Airport is the main international airport. It is just 63km from Primorsko, about 40 minutes drive on a four-lane highway for most of the distance.

In the months April to October there are both scheduled and charter flights to destinations all over Europe. During the winter season the flights are more limited.

The airport has been running at over capacity for several years. Before the terminal extension was completed at the end of 2006, it was common to have queues for check-in extending outside the terminal building, at the busiest times.

In 2007 this returned to normal - the new terminal building plus Bulgaria's EU membership speeded up the passenger handling a lot. In 2007 the airport had 1.94 million passengers.

Link to Burgas airport website.

Varna Airport

Varna Airport is 198km from Primorsko. It offers more flights than Burgas Airport in the winter, but fewer in the summer. In 2007 it handled 1.48 million passengers.

The airport concession for both Burgas and Varna airports was awarded to Fraport in 2006, to invest in and expand both airports.

Link to Varna airport website.

Plovdiv

Plovdiv Airport is busiest in the winter season, receiving charter flights for tourists going skiing in Pamporovo and Bansko. It is 215km from Primorsko, about three and a half hours drive. A new motorway is under construction between Plovdiv and Burgas – the Trakiya motorway. It is being opened in stages, reducing the overall travel time.

Link to Plovdiv airport website.

Sofia Airport

Sofia Airport is Bulgaria’s main airport, with flights throughout the year. It handled 2.73 million passengers in 2007. It is 370km, about four and a half hours drive from Primorsko, though this time will be reduced when the Trakiya motorway is completed.

Link to Sofia airport website.

Istanbul Airport, Turkey

Istanbul Airport is much larger than the Bulgarian airports, and has a choice of flights all around the world. It is nearer than Sofia airport, at 316km from Primorsko, about four hours drive.

Link to Istanbul airport website.

Thessaloniki, Greece

The 'Macedonia' International Airport has a good choice of flights throughout the year. It is more than 600km from Primorsko, and about 8 hours driving time. It is probably only worth considering for those tourists who want to hire a car and visit some sites on the way.

Link to Thessaloniki airport website.

Passenger numbers

Passenger numbers have trebled since 2000 at Bulgarias main airports. Both Bourgas airport and Sofia airport continue to grow, however Varna airport has stagnated since 2005.

Source: Bulgarian Civil Aviation Authority

Information

Sunniest Airport

Burgas Airport advertises itself as 'the sunniest airport in Europe', which may well be true in the summer months. About the weather…

Primorsko Airport

Primorsko Airport is used mainly for private aviation, and occasional charter flights.

It was upgraded in 2007 with a longer runway and new terminal building, to handle small passenger aircraft.

The airport is about 5km from Primorsko town.
Read more…