Europe's 'five star airport' that's getting a £214m new terminal

Bulgaria’s Sofia Airport has revealed its new plans for a new terminal that will welcome 20 million passengers a year.

Sofia Airport, set to cost around 500 million BGN (£214 million), hopes to become Europe’s first “five-star regional airport.”

As Bulgaria’s main international airport, Sofia welcomed an impressive 7.2 million passengers in 2023. 

The new Terminal 3 – connected to the current Terminal 2 – will therefore more than double the airport’s capacity. 

The 65,000 square metre terminal will have all gates “accessible within five minutes of the shopping area” to speed up the travel process, and the new security checkpoints will be able to process 3,250 passengers an hour.

A total of 35 gates across the two terminals will be available when it opens. It will also boast both kids play areas and dog areas inside the airport. 

Construction is scheduled to begin this year, with an opening date set for 2031. 

The airport’s CEO, Jesús Caballero Pinto said: “We want to be Europe’s best regional airport.”

It hopes to be the first regional airport in Europe to be awarded a five-star SkyTrax certification – a global quality ranking which recognises exceptional customer facilities and high-quality staff service. 

There are currently twelve five-star hub airports and seven five-star regional airports, as well as some terminals. This includes Seoul Incheon International Airport, Singapore Changi Airport and Bahrain International Airport. In Europe, only Munich, Rome Fiumicino and Istanbul airports have been awarded this prestigious certificate.

There are also plans to secure flights with more low-cost airlines to operate from the terminal. Currently, Ryanair and Wizz Air already have flights from Sofia. 

Mr Caballero also said he has seen “more of an appetite” from airlines since Bulgaria joined the Schengen Area.

Along with Romania, border controls were lifted for air and sea travel in March 2024, while land border controls were lifted on January 1 this year.

“What we are now noticing, what we are now talking about with airlines, especially with the third countries and non-Europe destination, is increasing appetite to open flights to Sofia, thanks to the Schengen accession,” Mr Caballero added. 

British tourists can travel to Sofia in just over three hours for just £14.99 with Ryanair, which has the cheapest flights from Birmingham and London Stansted.