New Sofia Terminal Opens in November
The new terminal of Sofia Airport will be ready by September and meet its first visitor in November, according to the Transport Ministry.
The new landing-strip is expected to be ready next month but it will be linked with the old one at a later stage, Bulgarian Transport Minister Petar Mutafchiev said while inspecting the site Monday.
Austrian company Strabag has claimed several delays and also additional funding to complete the expansion and modernisation of the airport.
The project for reconstruction and renovation of the Sofia Airport is one of the biggest ISPA projects in Bulgaria.
Sofia Airport is planned to have a capacity of 2.6 million passengers and 26,000 tons of cargo exchange per year after the project is completed by Austria's Strabag.
The total cost of the project is set at EUR 210 M, provided with the financial assistance of the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development - EUR 39.1 M, and the EIB. Another EUR 50 M is funded under PHARE and ISPA, and the rest are financed by Bulgarian state budget.
Initially the new terminal was to be opened on 31 August 2005. Under the latest delay agreement the renovated Sofia Airport is to be ready on 12 August 2006.
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