On March 31, Bulgaria and Romania joined the Schengen area by air and sea. Austria remains the last stumbling block stopping the two countries in their pursuit of full membership in the European area of free movement without border controls at internal borders – one of the most important achievements of the European Union.

At 00:20 on March 31, the first so-called Schengen flight from the Italian city of Naples landed at Sofia Airport. There were no passport check for its passengers, and they were able to take their checked baggage and leave the building without hindrance.

What are the changes for those who choose to depart from Sofia Airport?

Since the beginning of March, new devices have been installed at the airport's Terminal 2 that allow automated boarding card checks. A poll by Radio Bulgaria among passengers showed that they mostly welcome it:

"I travel often, but not as much as I would like,” Dorislava says. “Frankly speaking, this system would probably make the process of passing through the checks faster.”

“I've tried five or six times to use a similar system or a passport scanning system at airports around Europe, but often it didn't work and I had to go back and queue,” another passengers says.

Some passengers would like to see other changes:

"I would like the airport to have its own budget for culture, which would allow the placement of various art installations by Bulgarian artists, some of which would remain there for a long time, the holding of various festivals in the airport park, which could be reached by round-the-clock transport,” Veselin says. “I would like to be able to buy a record from the airport with music by a Bulgarian artist or books by contemporary authors, translated into English, as well as to find out about the possibilities to get involved in various initiatives in the city.”

The CEO of the concessionaire company of the Sofia Airport, Jesus Caballero, has told Radio Bulgaria that the recently introduced automatic boarding card check system is not part of the Schengen requirements, but part of the modernization plan the company is working on. In 2023, SOF Connect announced that by the end of 2025, over 75 million euro will be invested in the capital's airport. Part of these funds are aimed at improving the conditions for passengers arriving or departing from the Bulgarian capital city. One of the largest projects involves the construction of a 20-megawatt photovoltaic park, which should help the airport become carbon neutral by 2036.

"Our objective was by 2026 to reduce our emissions by 28%, but last year we already reduced our emissions by 31%,” Jesus Caballero points out. “We have already reduced the diesel fuel and electricity consumption by 30% and have reduced water consumption by 70%. We increased waste recycling by 45%. We are also using electric vehicles and have built charging stations for them and upgraded the electrical installation. To completely de-carbonise our energy consumption we are starting to install photovoltaic panels, as we hope that by 2036 we will be able to produce 20 MW of electricity as the battery storage system will allow us to have 24 hours of green energy for the needs of the airport."

The concessionaire's investment plan envisages the construction of a completely new third terminal at the airport, which will start welcoming passengers in 2030. Until then, Terminal 1 will continue to operate with passengers and be modernized.

By the end of the summer of 2024 the renovation of the airport's VIP terminal, which is used by passengers wishing to have direct access from the lounge to the plane, will also be completed.

Work continues on expanding the flight network from Sofia Airport to new destinations in the Middle East. Negotiations are also underway with several airlines for flights to the US.

All this will help in achieving the ambitious goal set by the concessionaire – to turn Sofia Airport into an aviation hub for the region.

Publication in English: Al. Markov

Photos: BTA, BGNES, Sofia Airport