August 9th, 2007

Budget carrier easyJet to open Sofia-London route in Nov '07

British low-cost air carrier easyJet Wednesday announced it has added Sofia to its destination network.

The company will perform flights from London's Gatwick airport to the Bulgarian capital three times a week - on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, from November 6.

The carrier said return fares will start from 75.77 euro with airport charges. Lower fares will be available to early bookers.

At the moment, the very competitive Sofia-London route is served by locally-owned Bulgaria Air and Hemus Air, British Airways and no-frills carrier Wizz Air.

The fares of full-service carriers start from 200 euro.

Low-cost carrier British Midland has also announced plans to launch flights to Sofia from London's Luton airport this fall.

BA will make on adjustments to its approach to the Bulgarian market, company's regional manager Emil Delibashev said in response to the easyJet news.

Bulgaria Air has no plans to reduce its 15 weekly flights to London and even intends to add flights with its winter schedule, said executive director Dimitar Pavlov.

The operators of hotels in Sofia expect that the much anticipated arrival of easyJet will make the Bulgarian capital an attractive destination for city break trips.

The availability of budget air fares has been a boon for the tourist industries in Central European capitals like Prague and Budapest.

In related news, it emerged that another low-cost carrier, Ryanair, continues to sound out the local market.

It was already reported that the company was in talks with the airport in Plovdiv, Bulgaria's second largest city. The negotiations are still ongoing, said Plovdiv airport director Plamen Nikolov.

Ryanair is also in contact with the airport in coastal city Burgas and the two sides have been exchanging information, said Burgas airport director Kalin Barzov.(Dnevnik)

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