No-Frills FlyNiki, Cimber Sterling Take off to Bulgaria

Former Austrian Formula One champion Niki Lauda poses during the presentation of the first 190 Embraer Jet delivered to the Austrian airline Niki, at the Brazilian Aeronautic Company in May 2009. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Austrian low-cost carrier FlyNiki, owned by former Formula 1 world champion Niki Lauda, and Danish budget airline Cimber Sterling will launch regular flights to Sofia next year.

The Austrian carrier will service Sofia-Vienna flights once a day six times a week, with Saturdays being the sole exception. Prices of one-way tickets start from EUR 11 with no airport fees included.

The other low-cost company Danish Cimber Sterling used to carry out flights from Burgas to Copenhagen before it went bankrupt this year. The Danish regional carrier Cimber Air bought parts of Sterling and rebranded as Cimber Sterling.

Sofia airport representatives has said they expect the company to confirm its plans to start flight from Sofia to Copenhagen in the summer of 2010.

Hamburg International Airlines, which operates scheduled charter services, will be another new entry to Sofia airport schedules. It will operate Sofia-Berlin flights.

Wizz Air, EasyJet and Germanwings are the other low-fare airline companies conducting flights from Sofia airport. In 2009 they held a 26% market share after standing at no more than 10% a year earlier.

London-registered low-cost carrier Wizz Air, the first no-frills carrier to enter the Bulgarian market, will launch in the summer of 2010 flights to another four airports – Paris, Beauvais airport, Frankfurt, Hahn airport, Madrid and Bologna.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!