In 2009, Bourgas Airport will get the benefit of a 35 million euro package for major refurbishment and expansion, it was announced at a news conference at the airport on January 22 2009, Bulgarian-language Stroitelstvo Gradut reported.

Kalin Barzov, Bourgas Airport executive director, and Karl Mai, chief technical director of Fraport Twin Star Airport Management AD outlined the investment scheme for 2009.

"The investment programme of the concern remains unchanged. The global crisis is a fact, it has arrived in Bulgaria but it changes nothing. It (the crunch) is a temporary phenomenon and we are planning ahead for the long term," Mai said.

The expansion of the Bourgas terminal will see several major developments. An extensive road network will be built, as will as electricity distribution facility, an infrastructure tunnel in which a communications centre will be located, as well as a system for noise pollution surveillance.

The terminal will be expanded to accommodate and process a larger number of customers.

Several buildings currently in use at the airport perimeter will be demolished. Most if the airport administration will be relocated in a new administrative centre which will be set for use by the end of 2009.

In 2008, a total of 1 936 853 passengers went through Bourgas Airport, a slight 0.6 per cent decrease as opposed to 2007, while domestic traffic soared by 33 per cent.

The airport is served year-round by Bulgaria Air and budget carrier Wizz Air, which has a direct flight from Bourgas to London. German tourists were top of the charts, with more than 400 000 passengers having passed through the airport, followed in second place by Britons, more than 372 000, and a further 38 per cent increase in Russians. There has been a noted increase of arrivals from the Czech Republic, Poland, Israel and the Netherlands.