Editing Transport in Bulgaria (section)

== Air transport ==
[[File:SA-24-April-2015.jpg|thumb|[[Vasil Levski Sofia Airport]] and a station of [[Sofia Metro]]]]
After the second terminal of International Airport Sofia was built the total number of passengers for the country rose and reached 6,595,790 in 2008,<ref name="nsi-air"/> and in April 2011 Airport Sofia serviced 282 694 passengers, 13% more than the same period of 2009, when the record was 250,000 passengers.<ref>[http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=128293 Sofia Airport Serviced Record Number of Passengers April 2011], Sofia News Agency, May 16, 2011</ref> In 2011 passenger traffic at Bulgaria's three major airports – Sofia, Varna and Burgas – grew up to near 10% on the year to 3.89&nbsp;million in the first half of 2011, due to rise of customers using international routes and launch of new destinations.<ref>[http://sofiaecho.com/2011/08/18/1140858_passenger-traffic-at-bulgarias-major-airports-grows-10per-cent-yy-in-h1-2011 Passenger traffic at Bulgaria's major airports grows 10% Y/Y in H1 2011], The Sofia Echo, August 18, 2011</ref> In 2014, Bulgarian airports served 7,728,612 passengers and handled 23,101 tons of goods.<ref name="nsi-air">{{cite web|url=http://www.nsi.bg/en/content/7158/air-transport|title=Air transport|publisher=National Statistical Institute|access-date=2016-04-29|date=July 31, 2015}}</ref>

In the past aviation compared with road and railroad transport used to be a minor mode of freight movement, and only 860,000 passengers used Bulgarian airlines in 2001.<ref name=cp15>Bulgaria country profile, p. 15.</ref> In 2013 Bulgaria had 68 airports, 57 of which had paved runways.<ref>{{Cite CIA World Factbook|country=Bulgaria|access-date=2016-05-02|year=2016}}</ref> Two airports, [[Vasil Levski Sofia Airport]] and [[Burgas Airport]], had a runway longer than 3,000 meters, and there were four heliports.<ref name=cp15/> The second- and third-largest airports, [[Varna Airport]] and [[Burgas Airport]], serve mainly charter flights and have regular domestic links with the capital.<ref name=cp15/> In the early 2000s, Sofia Airport received substantial renovation, with aid from a Kuwaiti-led consortium, in anticipation of increased air connections with Europe.<ref name=cp15/> A three-phase expansion was scheduled for completion in 2010.<ref name=cp15/> The communist-era state airline, [[Balkan Airlines]], was replaced by [[Bulgaria Air]], which was privatised in 2006.<ref name=cp15/> In 2004 Bulgaria Air transported 365,465 passengers to international destinations, including all major European cities, while in 2014 this number was at 897,422.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://caa.gateway.bg/page.php?category=27|title=Statistics|publisher=Civil Aviation Administration|access-date=2016-05-02}}</ref>