Will Varna substitute Sofia?

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   On the 15th of December a charter flight from Moscow to Varna, consolidated by a new player on the Bulgarian market segment 'Dan Morris', was launched. The first flight in the charter chain with 'Atlanta-Alliance' by Tu-154 was made on the 17th of November, and in spite of the fact that the following flights were cancelled, the company does not abandon its plan to operate the plane on Thursdays all the year round. As Marina Belyaeva, general director of 'Dan Morris', said in an interview to a BANKO correspondent, the charter can compete with regular flight to Sofia, since in Varna, unlike in the capital of Bulgaria, the weather is sunnier and mists, preventing flights, are very rare. ‘It is convenient to make excursion, medical and ski mountain tours. Besides, the price is very competitive - $280 for the round-trip ticket while regular flights from Sofia cost approximately in $450’, - says Mrs. Belyaeva.
   Meanwhile, the program was viewed with skepticism by other market participants, who do not consider the winter flight Moscow - Varna as an independent competitive project, nor as a possible alternative flight to Sofia. According to one expert, Varna in winter is not popular: it is particularly summer destination. ‘Such transportation does not fit our winter tourist. It is hard to make any decent programs for these flights as all mountain resorts are located in the region of Sofia and Plovdiv’, - says Irina Petrova, general director of "Solvex-Travel". Dmitriy Cherepovl, manager of Bulgaria in ‘ICS Travel Groups’ commented: ‘Only a regular flight to Varna will make sense. Charter is a seasonal phenomenon, but a large load for Varna in winter is not expected’.
    For its part ‘Dan Morris does not wish to abandon the program, referring to "delayed advertisement resulted in the fact that not all understood the advantages of the flight". Yet in the back rooms of the market is expressed the opinion that the company might be using empty planes for transportation of cargo.
    Nevertheless, some experts are prone to believe the flight will not damage the market. ‘For the destination to develop, different transportation options are needed’, commented Alexey Markelov, general director of "Balkan Express".