A completely renovated runway was put into operation at the Bulgarian airport in Varna. The local Fraport management invited Tourism Minister Zaritza Dinkova, among others, to an official ceremony. 

The airport plays a particularly important role in the region, which, along with Burgas, is considered a particularly important tourist destination in Bulgaria. Most holidaymakers from abroad arrive by plane. Both Burgas and Varna have been managed by Fraport Bulgaria as “Twin Star Airports” for some time.  

The region around Varna is particularly well-known for the golden sands, although only a very small part is a notorious party mile. It is much quieter, for example at the nearby Kabakum Beach. In recent years, the range of low-cost flights has been greatly expanded. Local tourism benefits from this, because Varna has been able to establish itself as a cheap alternative to Mallorca, especially in Germany. 

Fraport Bulgaria had a taxiway renovated at a cost of 8,6 million euros. According to official information, 136 million euros have been invested in the Bulgarian airport so far. Further investments are planned until 2046, so that a total of around 196 million euros should be reached. 

The runway is unique in Bulgaria as it has the highest loading capacity in the country and is expected to handle 20 flights with over 160.000 million passengers over the next 21 years. The construction period was 180 days, during which the airport's operations were not disrupted or interrupted, although Varna Airport experienced record winter air traffic during this period. 

The new taxiway is a sustainable project as the old concrete pavement has been demolished and laid under the new roadway construction which is 1.030m long and 38m wide excluding the widening, with an average thickness of 1,08m! It is equipped with 92 pieces of diode axis lamps, 36 pieces of electrical shafts and new wiring (primary - 4600 m. and secondary - 4300 m.), which will also lead to large electricity savings. 11 200 m3 of recycled crushed concrete was used and the remaining aggregates were: polymer modified asphalt - 4670 m3, binder - 3750 m3 and crushed stone - 21000 m3.   

“All teams involved, both external and internal, worked very well together. We faced challenges during the project, such as unforeseen ground issues that we had to address. So I'm glad we finished this project on time, with good quality and on budget. I want to thank our teams and the construction company, Stimmex,” said Fraport Twin Star CEO Frank Kwante of the project.