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Bulgaria will join the European Common Aviation Area in early 2007 after initialing the relevant agreement next spring, transport minister Peter Mutafchiev said.
The agreement allows foreign air carriers to perform flights to Bulgaria without requesting permission from this country's air traffic administration.
Though the Bulgarian transport ministry had initially said it was in no hurry to accede to the agreement, it later revised a series of bilateral agreements opening the door to low-cost carriers.
Three years ago the transport ministry opted out of the single EU sky quoting as the main reason the bankruptcy of national flag-carrier Balkan Airlines and the establishment of its successor, Bulgaria Air.
The European Common Aviation Area will open up market opportunities for the aviation industry and give people better travel options, EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot was quoted as saying by news agency Bloomberg in a statement on Wednesday in Brussels. The agency reports that the EU had agreed to deregulate airline travel with Norway, Iceland and eight southeastern European nations, including Bulgaria, seeking to boost air traffic and tourism.
The agreement expands the 25-nation EU's single aviation market by 52 mln people to more than 500 mln, allowing airlines to fly between any two points in the area and aligning regulatory standards.
Air traffic between the EU and southeastern Europe has more than doubled since 2001 and is set for further expansion because the Balkan region has coastal tourist destinations and more than 400 airports, Bloomberg writes.
The liberalisation of Bulgaria's air market meets with strong opposition from local carriers. Meeting with transport minister Mutafchiev last week, they said the Bulgarian market was not ready to withstand competition from their low-cost rivals.
The only budget airlines performing regular flights to Bulgaria at present are Wizz Air and SkyEurope.(Dnevnik)