[size=55:k1bpin64]novinite

Bulgaria Moves to Create 3rd International Black Sea Airport



The Bulgarian Cabinet created Wednesday a limited state company for the management of Balchik Airport, following up on plans to transform the idling military facility into an international airport.

The company, with capital of BGN 0.39 M, will be exclusively owned by the state, with the Minister of Transport (at present, Ivailo Moskovski) exercising the state's ownership.

Balchik is located north of Varna, Bulgaria's largest Black Sea city and the site of the country's two seaside airports, the other being 130 km south near Burgas.

In the beginning of the summer season, Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov had announced plans to convert the military facility near Balchik into a civil airport to better serve Bulgaria's northern sea resorts Golden Sands, Albena, as well as further tourists locations to the north.

In July the cabinet decided to invest BGN 30 M in the airport before granting it on concession to a company that is going to manage it.

PM Borisov and Minister of Transport Moskovski argued that Bulgaria needs to invest that money, as the project is strategic and will give adequate returns.

Here is a bit more about this

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The government must notify the Commission of its intention to invest money to make the desolate military airport into a civilian in Balchik. The reason is that end state plans to give funds to the newly created state company "
Airport Balchik"
Ltd., which under EU rules is unauthorized aid. The problem warns Finance Minister Simeon Djankov during the last cabinet meeting, it is clear from his transcript.

Two days ago, ministers decided to create a single limited liability company "
Airport Balchik"
Ltd. with capital of BGN 390 000 It will be divided into 390,000 shares at a dollar each, which will be owned by the state.

"
You have to notify the European Commission (EC), to then no problems,"
says Djankov. He explains that while Brussels, did not give an opinion the government can not finance the project, "
because money can not go before notification."


However, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov insists that "
Balchik airport on 1 May (2012 - Ed) should work."
Djankov had''to examine, respectively, to inform Brussels, know that it's anti-monopoly measure to build an alternative airport of Varna, as more than 60,000 bus from the airport pass through the center of Varna on the northern coast, to strengthen and there Tourism, business people and did this part of Bulgaria, "
says Borisov

Djankov added that one should consider whether the new state company to obtain funds through bank credit for at least the first few months - "
until the pass notification by the European Commission."


From the words of the Minister of Transport Ivaylo Moscow becomes clear that for Balchik airport to receive civil traffic requires 40 million - 10 million more than the Prime Minister announced a month ago amount.

Meeting of Prime Ministers displayed on a map with the airport project. "
Here's how it looks. This is the current track, which is there and repaired. This is done in two pockets for conversion, including"
747 "
can land on this track because it is made for the military,"
says Borisov.

And he continues: "
This here is the breakthrough here is the path that goes to the central road. Here the land is municipal. This is the parking of aircraft, which, after paying, come here and rulyoshkata be arranged. Here we have to make a administrative building, where they put customs, border and all, but here are the secret objects that are of military radar and remain so, to use them. This is how the airport will look like "
ending theme Borisov.

I don't think this will happen in my lifetime. I think it is pie in the sky
Wizzair only fly to Varna twice a week for most of the year and I haven't been on a full flight yet
so which airline's would fly there and where would most of the passengers go, Albena I suppose
Personally, I would welcome an airport at Balchik, only 20 minutes from my villa

willowsend wrote:

Personally, I would welcome an airport at Balchik, only 20 minutes from my villa

Personally I'd welcome a new airport somewhere in the middle of the country!

All those folks that have property in VT, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, etc., only have the option of flying into Sofia or the coast and then driving a few hours.

An airport at Balchik???? With 2 already in that area which probably only make a profit in the summer, it seems ridiculous and the brainchild of someone or some body with a lot of money to get rid of!!!!!
Gorna airport in Central Bulgaria has been in the planning for several years and is still not open to international flights so what chances Balchik?

Would make more sense to continue with the plans for Ruse airport.

where in balchik is there any room for an airport, its full of hotels and cafes and residential properties, i live near balchik and where they could put an airport is beyond me.

they are not putting one there starlite...they are talking of developing the already excisting one ! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Why don't they just spend the money to improve what they already have :Howdy:I'm sure that would be money better spent? I can't see what the point of a third, third rate airport would be ?

Hotels in Bulgaria project surge in Russian tourist arrivals at Balchik airport
Mon, Aug 08 2011 22:20 CET
byDnevnik.bg

Hotels in Bulgaria projected a growth of at least 50 per cent in the number of Russian tourists to the country after the conversion of the former military airfield in Balchik into a civilian airport, Dimitar Dimitrov, head of the Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Association for northeastern Bulgaria, told Dnevnik.

According to Dimitrov, the airport, located on the northern Black Sea coast, will serve low-cost airlines, which will provide for a significant reduction in the cost of summer holidays in Bulgaria for Russians.

The launch of the airport in Balchik would also lessen the traffic pressure at the airfield in Varna and also facilitate tourists at the northern sea coast, he said.

Besides, owners of golf courses in the region have been complaining for several years that players, mostly from Romania, land their private airplanes at the airport in Varna,

varnagirl wrote:

Besides, owners of golf courses in the region have been complaining for several years that players, mostly from Romania, land their private airplanes at the airport in Varna,

Oh how the other half lives Off to get my push bike out now

[size=150:1b826kky]The latest news on the proposed Balchik International Airport
There you are starlight, you will be able to watch Wizzair wizzing pass your back door :Waving:and think how lucky you will be to take a stroll with your hand baggage to the airport. Fantastic news, and it could be as early as next Spring :Great:and if they extend the runway 3,500mtrs you might even have Jumbo Jets landing

Sofia Airport to Manage Bulgaria's 3rd Black Sea Airport in Balchik
August 24, 2011,

The future civilian airport in Bulgaria's Balchik (A) will be the third Bulgarian Black Sea airport after Varna (B) and Burgas (C);
it will be managed by Sofia Airport (location marked in orange). Map from bgmaps Bulgaria's Cabinet has assigned the management of the future civilian airport at the Black Sea town of Balchik to Sofia International Airport.

“Sofia Airport, whose parent organization is the Ministry of Transport, IT and Communications, has sufficient management experience that will guarantee the execution of the project [for Balchik Airport]. This will create an opportunity for Balchik Airport to start accepting civilian flights shortly,” the Bulgarian government said in its announcement Wednesday.

In June and July 2011, the Borisov Cabinet moved to turn the inactive military airport near Balchik into a third international airport on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast alongside Varna Airport and Burgas Airport.

The Balchik Airport runway is located 800 m east of the Levski Quarter of the town of Balchik, on a plot of 460 hectares;
it is 60 m wide and 2 500 m long, and could be extended north by 3 500 m.

The Bulgarian government expects that the future Balchik Airport will take up about one-third of the flights that are currently served by Varna Airport, located 40 km to the south. During the busy summer tourist season the high number of foreign tourists flying in create a complex transport situation in the city of Varna, since Varna Airport is right next to Varna's major boulevard and the entrance of the Hemus Highway linking it to Sofia. Thus, all passengers arriving at Varna Airport have to go through the city center in order to reach the resorts located north of it – Golden Sands, Albena, Kranevo, Balchik.

In early July 2011, Bulgaria's Cabinet decided it would invest BGN 30 M in the reconstruction of the military airport near the Black Sea resort of Balchik in order to transform it into a civilian airport, with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov directly ordering the Finance Ministry to allocate the money.

Borisov's rationale is that the reconstruction will be the fastest way to make Balchik Airport fit for being granted on a concession.

The other major argument of the Bulgarian Prime Minister to pour money into the airport near Balchik, which is located about 40 km north of the Black Sea city of Varna and Varna International Airport is that Northeastern Bulgaria has no alternative airport, and Varna Airport has a monopoly in the region.

A government meeting transcript showed that Prime Minister Borisov believes that the Balchik Airport has been deliberately kept from running civilian flights so that the Varna Airport can have a monopoly and all tourists for the northern Bulgarian Black Sea resorts have to go through there.

In July, the Borisov government also decided to transfer the ownership of Balchik Airport from the Defense Ministry to the Transport Ministry, acting in accordance with a statement that Prime Minister Boyko Borisov made in another Black Sea town, Kavarna, in early June 2011.

The Balchik Airport is located very close to the top resorts on Bulgaria's northern Black Sea coast – Albena and Golden Sands, among several others. At present, two international airport are serving the Bulgarian Black Sea coast – Varna Airport and Burgas Airport.

The Balchik Airport is supposed to help boost the development of Northeastern Bulgaria, according PM Borisov.

thankfully i am a few miles from balchik, it is a very built up residential area where the existing miltary, dare i say it..........airport [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] and seeing how busy balchik has been this summer, i would envisage one flight daily would suffice

on the positive side,, not having to go to varna for my flights would be great

[size=55:2sgfrea9]novinite

Bulgaria's Balchik Airport Becomes Strategic National Security Site



The military airport in Bulgaria's Black Sea town of Balchik – which is to be transformed into a commercial civilian airport by the summer of 2012 – is to be declared a strategic national security facility.

The proposal to turn the future commercial airport into a national security site was declared by the Bulgarian Cabinet during its meeting Wednesday, the government press service announced Wednesday night.

The Borisov Cabinet has proposed that Balchik Airport be included in the "
List of Strategic Objects and Activities of Significance for the National Security. The sites on the list are under the watch of the Interior Ministry and the State National Security Agency DANS.

Thus, Balchik Airport will become the sixth civilian airport in Bulgaria to be declared a strategic national security site in addition to Sofia, Varna, Plovdiv, Burgas, and Gorna Oryahovitsa.

Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has made it clear that the construction of Balchik Airport is to start on October 8, 2011, and that the new civilian airport should be completed by May 1, 2012. Over the summer of 2011, the Bulgarian government set up a limited liability company, Balchik Airport EOOD, with a capital of BGN 390 000, fully-stated owned.

In August, 2011, Bulgaria's Cabinet assigned the management of the future civilian airport at the Black Sea town of Balchik to Sofia International Airport.

In June and July 2011, the Borisov Cabinet moved to turn the inactive military airport near Balchik into a third international airport on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast alongside Varna Airport and Burgas Airport.

The Balchik Airport runway is located 800 m east of the Levski Quarter of the town of Balchik, on a plot of 460 hectares;
it is 60 m wide and 2 500 m long, and could be extended north by 3 500 m.

The Bulgarian government expects that the future Balchik Airport will take up about one-third of the flights that are currently served by Varna Airport, located 40 km to the south. During the busy summer tourist season the high number of foreign tourists flying in create a complex transport situation in the city of Varna, since Varna Airport is right next to Varna's major boulevard and the entrance of the Hemus Highway linking it to Sofia. Thus, all passengers arriving at Varna Airport have to go through the city centre in order to reach the resorts located north of it – Golden Sands, Albena, Kranevo, Balchik.

In early July 2011, Bulgaria's Cabinet decided it would invest BGN 30 M in the reconstruction of the military airport near the Black Sea resort of Balchik in order to transform it into a civilian airport, with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov directly ordering the Finance Ministry to allocate the money.

Borisov's rationale is that the reconstruction will be the fastest way to make Balchik Airport fit for being granted on a concession.

Later estimates of the Transport Ministry showed the reconstruction of Balchik Airport would cost BGN 40 M. The management – and respectively – the new investments of the future civilian airport were assigned to Sofia International Airport as a way of avoiding potential sanctions of the European Commission over illegal state aid.

A major argument of the Bulgarian Prime Minister to pour money into the airport near Balchik, which is located about 40 km north of the Black Sea city of Varna and Varna International Airport is that North-eastern Bulgaria has no alternative airport, and Varna Airport has a monopoly in the region.

Balchik Airport is located very close to the top resorts on Bulgaria's northern Black Sea coast – Albena and Golden Sands, among several others. At present, two international airport are serving the Bulgarian Black Sea coast – Varna Airport and Burgas Airport.

The Borisov Cabinet has recently revamped measures to revive several defunct airports around Bulgaria – including Gorna Oryahovitsa Airport near Veliko Tarnovo, and Straklevo Airport near Ruse;
defunct airports in other locations such as Targovishte and Vidin could also be put on the table in the months to come, with the local and district authorities in the north-western city of Vidin announcing they were on the search for a concessionaire for Vidin Airport.

For the time being, it remains unclear how much investor interest these airport projects could generate.

According to Prime Minister Borisov, the reconstruction of Balchik Airport is supposed to be completed by the spring of 2012 so that it can be offered on concession.

As Bulgaria's Cabinet plans to offer on concession Sofia International Airport some time in the fall or winter of 2011, it remains unclear for the time being if the future airport in Balchik will be made part of the concession package.

The future concessionaire will be expected to invest massively in the modernization of the Sofia International Airport, and to assume its loans, which amounted to over BGN 85 M at the end of 2010.

In 2010, State Company "
Sofia Airport"
registered a profit of BGN 14 M which has led critics to wonder why a profitable state-owned enterprise should be offered on a concession. Others in favour of the concession have argued that the profit of the Sofia Airport must be much higher.

The airports in Black Sea cities Varna and Burgas have been granted on concession to Fraport Twin Star Airport Management company, a German-Bulgarian consortium between the Varna-based TIM Group's holding "
Chimimport"
(40%) and the German "
Fraport."


In 2010, Fraport Twin Star Airport Management paid the Bulgarian state a total of BGN 13 M for the concessions of Varna Airport and Burgas Airport, which is less than the total profit of State Company "
Sofia Airport"
for 2010.

First starting passenger flights in 1947, the Sofia Airport, located 10 km south-east of down town Sofia in the Vrazhdebna quarter, opened a new modern terminal, Terminal 2, in 2006.

The construction of Terminal 2 in 2001-2006 cost over EUR 200 M, provided from the Bulgarian government, EU pre-accession programs PHARE and ISPA, and from loans from the European Investment Bank and the Kuwait Economic Development Fund.

Chris wrote:

willowsend wrote:

Personally, I would welcome an airport at Balchik, only 20 minutes from my villa

Personally I'd welcome a new airport somewhere in the middle of the country!

All those folks that have property in VT, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, etc., only have the option of flying into Sofia or the coast and then driving a few hours.

I totally agree Chris what is the sense of building a third airport right over on the eastern side of BG where the other two airports already exist. We are probably going to buy a property in VT and last week I had a two and a half hours drive from Sofia to get there. A good airport in the middle would really make more sense.