Sofia Airport to upgrade category

Sofia airport has been granted a 3A category, meaning that airplanes could land with a visibility a slow as 200 meters. After its renovation the airport in Sofia had a category 1 permitting lending of airplanes with visibility of 550 meters or more. The Transport Ministry then had established a goal of upgrading the airport's category and providing better landing conditions.

The Sofia airport became the first airport in Bulgaria to have a category 3A, which means that the number of canceled or delayed flights would be significantly reduced. The next step is the acquisition of a category 3B, which so far has been granted to only 10 airports in Europe. In order to obtain a category 3B, the road to Sofia airport must be changed as well.

At the same time Lufthansa opened its own repairs facility in Sofia, investing in docking facilities and repair of a hangar, instruments and working materials, and of course for employee training. The hangar is 6000 sq.m vast allowing the repair and painting of two plains at the same time.

Bulgaria was also included as one of the nine new UK and European routes of the Irish budget air carrier Aer Lingus, which already made charter flight to Bourgas during the summer season.
At the same time the Adria Airways will offer direct flights from the Slovenian capital Liubljana to Sofia, starting in 2009.

Source: The Sofia Weekly & The Sofia Echo