More than 50 Bulgarian and international companies will perform charter flights to the Varna Airport during the summer season, airport director Yanko Yankov said.

The first foreign tourists are expected to arrive in the coastal city on March 1. Airport management expects a ten per cent increase in visits. More tourists would likely come from the UK, the Scandinavian countries, Russia, Austria and Hungary, mediapool.bg reported.

A number of problems may result from the increase. Varna’s airport is in need of urgent passenger terminal expansion. The Transport Ministry will provide 400 000 leva for the construction of a temporary terminal.

Transport Minister Petar Moutafchiev approved a project for airport modernisation, as well.

At the same time a committee is expected to examine next week the concession of the Varna and Bourgas airports. Copenhagen Airports was selected as the concession winner but additional investigations will occur to determine whether the deal should be concluded.

The committee’s decision can be appealed. As a result the concession process is not expected to finish this year.