Ryanair has unveiled its largest-ever summer schedule for Sofia, announcing an 8% capacity increase and over 350 weekly flights across 43 international routes. The expansion includes two new city-break destinations, Frankfurt-Hahn and Pisa, bolstering the carrier’s presence in the Bulgarian capital.
The record S25 schedule, is supported by four based aircraft, including two 197 seat Boeing 737 8-200 “Gamechangers,” is projected to carry 2.9 million passengers annually and sustain over 2,500 local jobs. Ryanair is also increasing flight frequencies on popular routes to Catania, Dublin, Rhodes, and Rome, aiming to provide greater travel flexibility for both tourists and Bulgarian citizens.
Despite the significant expansion, Ryanair has voiced strong criticism of rising airport charges in Bulgaria. The airline argues that while other European nations are actively reducing access costs to stimulate air traffic recovery. “While other European countries such as Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, and Sweden are actively reducing access costs to recover air traffic and/or secure scarce short-haul capacity growth, Bulgaria’s airports are taking the opposite approach and have increased airport charges,” Ryanair stated. “As a result, the recovery of Bulgaria’s aviation sector is lagging behind pre-Covid levels which is holding back the country’s economic and tourism growth.”
Ryanair Chief Commercial Officer, Jason McGuinness said “As Bulgaria’s No.1 airline, Ryanair is delighted to announce its biggest-ever schedule for Sofia, with 43 routes, more than any other airline, including exciting new city-break destinations to Frankfurt-Hahn and Pisa. This expansion, supported by a $400 million investment and 4 based aircraft, will deliver 2.9 million passengers to/from Sofia annually while supporting over 2,500 jobs. However, Sofia and Bulgaria’s tourism growth potential is being held back by excessive access costs at Bulgarian airports. Low access costs are the catalyst for growing connectivity and tourism as demonstrated in countries such as Italy, Hungary, Slovakia, and Sweden where government (and airport) decisions to reduce access costs have directly resulted in a significant uplift in capacity and tourism this summer.
Image Credit: Creative Commons – Tim Sheerman-Chase
Irish Aviation Research Institute © 23 March 2025 All Rights Reserved
