Today, Meridiam, Munich airport and Strabag (“the SOF Connect consortium”) takes over all the responsibilities and the activities related to the operations of Sofia airport and pays the upfront fee of 281 million euros to the Bulgarian State.

The obligations include inter alia the commitment to invest a minimum 624 million euros throughout the duration of the concession, build a new Terminal 3 for the airport within the first 10 years of the concession.

The ambition of SOF Connect is to transform Sofia Airport to a modern and competitive European airport and for Sofia Airport to become an enabler of social, economic, environmental, and inclusive growth to Sofia, its region and Bulgaria.

The investment plan also includes environmental, health and safety upgrade components. World-class, sustainability and resilience standards will be applied to transform Sofia Airport in a success story which will benefit the Bulgarian citizens, the airport employees, and partners.

The project will contribute concretely to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and in particular:

• SDG 8 (Decent work and economic growth) as a major contribution to the Bulgarian economy
• SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) as it will increase the quality of the airport and upgrade it to the best international standards
• SDG 11 (Sustainable cities and communities) as a main access route to the city of Sofia and the whole country, it will actively contribute to its sustainable and economic development

The financial close of Sofia airport concession was reached on 24th December 2020. The pool of Lenders comprises EBRD, Black Sea Trade & Development Bank, IFC, Unicredit, Société Générale, Kommunalkredit and DSK Bank.

Sofia Airport is the 6th largest international airport in Central Eastern Europe with c.7m passengers in 2018, 7.1m passengers in 2019, and 2.9m passengers in 2020.