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Varna Airport (Bulgarian: Летище Варна, romanized: Letishte Varna) (IATA: VAR, ICAO: LBWN) is the airport of Varna, the historical maritime capital of Bulgaria. Varna Airport is the third largest airport in Bulgaria. It is located 10 kilometers from the center of Varna near the town of Aksakovo. The airport serves Varna, Golden Sands and northeastern Bulgaria. The busiest season for the airport is from the end of May to the beginning of October.

Varna Airport Летище Варна
IATA: VAR ICAO: LBWN
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	State-owned
Operator	Fraport Twin Star Airport Management AD
Serves	Varna
Location	Varna, Bulgaria
Opened	1947 (1947)
Hub for	BH Air Bulgaria Air European Air Charter Voyage Air Wizz Air
Elevation AMSL	70 m / 230 ft
Coordinates	43°13′55″N 27°49′31″E
Website	varna-airport.bg
Map
VAR Location of airport in Bulgaria
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 09/27 2,517 8,258 Asphalt
Statistics (2021)
Passengers 1,004,000 89.0% Aircraft movements 8,128 20.0%
Source: Bulgarian AIP at EUROCONTROL

History

The history of the airport dates back to 1916 when two sheds for the first hydro-port in Bulgaria were built in the Peinerdzhik area (present-day Chaika residential area). ^{[citation needed]} Irregular mail-plane service from Sofia to Varna was held between 1919 and 1920 and it was not until 1947 that a permanent airline between the two cities was established. What had grown into Tihina Airport was situated west of the present-day Asparuhov bridge and was indeed quite primitive for the demands of a modern city. ^{[citation needed]} Thus in 1946 a decision was made and a new airport was constructed several kilometres west of the city, near the village (now town) of Aksakovo, with local people enthusiastically working on the site together with the constructors. Construction and improvement continued throughout the years, with a new terminal built in 1972 and a new runway in 1974. ^{[citation needed]}

In 2013, a new passenger terminal opened and the one constructed in the 20th century was closed down.

There are domestic and international flights from Varna to about 70 destinations in 25 countries, with Bulgarian and foreign airlines. The airport is close to the Port of Varna and the railway system. The airport has one asphalt-covered runway 09/27 with ILS CAT I system on 09 edge and a parking apron for 24 aircraft. In June 2006 the Bulgarian Government awarded Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide a 35-year-long concession on both Varna and Burgas airports in return for investments exceeding €500 million, including a new passenger terminal by 2008.

From 15 October 2011 until 28 February 2012, Varna airport was closed for a reconstruction of the runway. All flights were operated to/from Burgas Airport.[1]

In 2016 the airport handled 1,689,595 passengers - a 20.8% increase compared to 2015.

Terminals

The airport has three terminals: Terminal 1, built in 1972 (closed), Terminal 3 (opened in June 2007), which was used during the summer season, and the new Terminal 2, opened in August 2013.

Terminal 1

Terminal 1 (closed) was extended several times over the years. The departures area had 21 check-in counters and six security checkpoints. In the terminal there were various outlets: cafes, fast food restaurants, currency exchange, and duty-free shops. There were ten boarding gates. The arrivals area had two luggage belts, as well as currency exchange and a tax-free shop. Terminal 1 still has a VIP room and business lounge. In 2010 the VIP room was renovated. As of 2014, all flights, including no-frills, are managed by Terminal 2. Hence, the old terminal is closed except the VIP area.

Terminal 2

Terminal 2 started operations on 18 August 2013. In December 2011 the construction work on the new Terminal 2 began. T2 has a capacity of 1,800,000 passengers per year and 25 check-in desks. It covers an area of 18,000 square metres. T2's buildings are designed so that their capacity can be increased as an extension to the existing architectural part.^{[clarification needed]} The first passenger service on T2 was a domestic flight to Sofia operated by the national carrier Bulgaria Air and first international passengers served were on a Belavia flight from Minsk. T2 was designed by London-based architecture firm Pascall+Watson. ^{[citation needed]}

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Varna Airport:[2]

Airlines	Destinations
ALK Airlines	Seasonal: Bodrum, Dalaman[3]
Austrian Airlines	Vienna
Avion Express	Seasonal charter: Vilnius
BH Air	Seasonal: Manchester[4]
Bulgaria Air	Sofia Seasonal: Tel Aviv
easyJet	Seasonal: Berlin, London–Gatwick
Edelweiss Air	Seasonal: Zürich
European Air Charter	Seasonal charter: Antalya,[5]Enfidha, Hamburg, Helsinki, Tel Aviv
Eurowings	Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hamburg,[6] Stuttgart
Eurowings Discover	Seasonal: Frankfurt[7]
GetJet Airlines	Seasonal charter: Vilnius
Israir Airlines	Seasonal: Tel Aviv[8]
Lufthansa	Seasonal: Munich
Luxair	Seasonal: Luxembourg[9]
Mahan Air	Seasonal: Tehran–Imam Khomeini
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Seasonal: Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo
Qeshm Air	Seasonal: Tehran–Imam Khomeini
Ryanair	Vienna Seasonal: Sofia
Smartwings	Seasonal: Brno, Lyon,[10] Nantes, Ostrava, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Prague
Sunclass Airlines	Seasonal charter: Bergen, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo, Stavanger, Stockholm-Arlanda, Trondheim
Sundair	Seasonal: Berlin[11]
TUI fly Belgium	Seasonal: Brussels, Ostend/Bruges Seasonal charter: Lille, Nantes,[12] Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul
Volotea	Seasonal: Lille, Nantes (begins 13 April 2023)[13]
Wizz Air	Berlin, Charleroi, Cologne/Bonn, Dortmund, Eindhoven, Hahn, Hamburg, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, Larnaca, Liverpool, London–Gatwick,[14] London–Luton, Memmingen, Nuremberg, Prague, Tel Aviv, Vienna

Statistics

Traffic

Traffic at Varna Airport

Year	Passengers	Change	Cargo (tonnes)	Change	Aircraft movements	Change
1998	273,678		N/A		N/A
1999	511,819	87.0%	N/A		N/A
2000	691,689	35.1%	N/A		9,425
2001	932,549	34.8%	N/A		9,549	1.3%
2002	1,090,709	16.9%	N/A		9,006	5.7%
2003	1,186,349	8.8%	N/A		10,107	12.2%
2004	1,319,127	11.2%	N/A		11,277	11.6%
2005	1,546,925	17.3%	N/A		13,616	20.7%
2006	1,522,658	1.6%	N/A		14,721	8.1%
2007	1,478,093	2.9%	N/A		14,971	1.7%
2008	1,432,703	3.1%	N/A		15,129	1.1%
2009	1,206,535	15.8%	N/A		12,699	16.1%
2010	1,198,956	0.6%	N/A		12,577	1.0%
2011	1,163,884	2.9%	N/A		11,263	10.4%
2012	1,211,196	4.1%	N/A		10,739	4.7%
2013	1,303,679	7.6%	N/A		11,516	7.2%
2014	1,387,494	5.2%	N/A		12,063	4.7%
2015	1,398,694	0.8%	N/A		11,959	0.9%
2016	1,689,595	20.8%	N/A		14,818	23.9%
2017	1,970,700	16.6%	293	93.0%	15,950	7.6%[15]
2018	2,281,134	15.8%	136	40.6%	17,776	11.4%
2019	2,084,319	8.7%	123	9.3%	15,468	13.0%
2020	622,215	70.1%	44	64.1%	6,881	55.5%
2021	1,010,494	62.4%	34	23.9%	9,239	34.3%
2022 (01.01-30.09)	1,176,383	42.7%	96	100%	9,030	21.6%[16]

Ground transport

Bus line 409 connects the airport with Varna city center and resorts nearby (route: Varna Airport – Mall Varna – Varna Bus Station / Grand Mall – City Center – Saints Constantine and Helena - Golden Sands).[17]

Incidents and accidents

• On 5 June 1992, Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Tupolev 154B overran runway 27 in bad weather conditions. There were no casualties, but the plane was written off.[18]
• On 24 May 2013, Air VIA flight 502 from Leipzig/Halle to Varna overran runway 09 at Varna Airport after touchdown. Two passengers were injured during evacuation.[19][20]
• On July 8, 2014, Lars Mittank, a German vacationing in Golden Sands, mysteriously disappeared near Varna Airport. Mittank had been alone in Bulgaria the previous two days and reported to be behaving strangely, and was last seen on security cameras fleeing from the airport into the surrounding forest.

See also

• List of airports in Bulgaria
• List of airlines of Bulgaria
• List of the busiest airports in Europe by passenger traffic

References

External links

Media related to Varna Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Varna Airport Homepage
• History of Varna Airport

На других языках

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[de] Flughafen Warna

Der Flughafen Warna (IATA-Code VAR, ICAO-Code LBWN, bulg. Летище Варна, Letishte Varna) ist ein bulgarischer Flughafen acht Kilometer westlich von Warna. Er ist nach den Flughäfen von Sofia und Burgas der meistfrequentierte Flughafen Bulgariens und wird von Fraport verwaltet.

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- [en] Varna Airport

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[es] Aeropuerto de Varna

El Aeropuerto de Varna (en búlgaro, Летище Варна, Letishte Varna) (IATA: VAR, OACI: LBWN) es el aeropuerto de Varna, "capital marítima" de Bulgaria. El Aeropuerto de Varna es el tercer aeropuerto más transitado del país con 1 432 703 pasajeros y 15 129 operaciones (datos de 2008).[1] El aeropuerto está a 10 kilómetros del centro de Varna, en la localidad de Aksakovo.

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[fr] Aéroport de Varna

L'Aéroport de Varna,en bulgare "bulgare : Летище Варна", code IATA : VAR • code OACI : LBWN, est un aéroport international situé sur le territoire de la commune d'Aksakovo, à 20 km à l'ouest-nord-ouest du centre de Varna. Il dessert la ville de Varna mais sa zone d'attraction est tout le nord-est de la Bulgarie, dont le nord du littoral de la Mer Noire.

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[it] Aeroporto di Varna

L'aeroporto di Varna (IATA: VAR, ICAO: LBWN) (in bulgaro: Международно летище Варна?, traslitterato Mezhdunarodno letisthe Varna) è un aeroporto bulgaro situato a Varna, capoluogo dell'omonimo distretto e importante centro turistico sul Mar Nero.

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[ru] Варна (аэропорт)

Аэропорт Варна (болг. Летище Варна; ИАТА: VAR, ИКАО: LBWN) — аэропорт города Варна, морской столицы Болгарии. Расположен в 7,5 км от центра Варны на территории общин Варны и Аксаково.

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