In 2017 Sofia Airport celebrates its 80th anniversary by launching dozens of initiatives – essay, photo and children’s drawings competitions as well as photo exhibitions. The largest Bulgarian airport is the main entrance to Bulgaria and Sofia. Traffic is growing steadily in terms of both domestic and international flights. For the first six months of 2017 Sofia Airport reported an increase of 44.2% or nearly one million passengers more passing through the airport terminals compared to 2016. In the same period, the number of passengers that travelled on international flights increased by 43.6%. The greatest growth (77.4%) was recorded among passengers on domestic flights. This tendency is observed on monthly basis.
The number of destinations which can be reached by direct flights is also increasing. Compared to 2014 in 2015 the total number of passengers on international flights reported an increase of 7.6% and the direct flights that connected Sofia with different destinations around the world were 54. In 2016 the scheduled flights were operated by 24 airline companies on more than 70 routes. The leading air companies are WizzAir, Bulgaria Air, Ryanair, Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines. Direct flights contribute to the development of tourism in both Bulgaria and Sofia. The destinations that can be easily reached from Sofia and vice versa are among the biggest tourism markets for Sofia – Germany, Great Britain, Austria, France, Italy, Spain and Balkan countries such as Serbia, Romania, Greece, and Macedonia.