China is set to become the world’s largest aviation market within the next five years so it is unsurprising that the country’s airports are leading the way when it comes to annual passenger growth. Routesonline analyses the fastest-growing major airports in the world, with more than half of the top 20 in China alongside counterparts in Europe, the Middle East and the Caribbean.
Ryanair will station three Boeing 737-800s in Sofia from the end of October 2016 to support a network of 90 flights across 21 routes and which are forecasted to deliver around 1.5 million passengers per annum. This will position the carrier among the leading operators at Sofia Airport accounting for around a quarter of future traffic.
The aircraft, which is configured with 86 seats and will be leased between the busy summer months of June and September 2016, will allow Air Serbia to expand its flight network with non-stop flights to Hamburg in Germany and Kiev in Ukraine being introduced from its Belgrade base. In addition, the aircraft will be deployed on the carrier’s existing Belgrade – Sofia route.
Ryanair will launch flights from the city from November 1, 2016 with a twice daily link to the Spanish capital, Madrid, a daily service to Brussels Charleroi and London Stansted, a four times weekly link to Berlin and twice weekly flights to Fez, Malta and Warsaw Modlin.
The new non-stop link between Doha and Yerevan will commence from May 15, 2016 with a four times weekly service being flown using an Airbus A320 configured in a two-class arrangement with 12 seats in Business Class and 132 in Economy Class. The new route is understood have been facilitated by Qatar Airways’ network expansion across the US, a market which has strong links back into Armenia, but with limited current connectivity.
The new aircraft, which is set to arrive in March 2016, will support the new services between the Bulgarian capital and Alicante, Bristol, Hamburg Lubeck and Oslo Torp, which will be served with two weekly flights each.
The new ‘Pharma Express’ route will see an Airbus A330-200F operate between Brussels and Basel and then on to Doha on a twice weekly basis from January 28, 2015 with flights every Wednesday and Saturday.
