Ryanair, Europe’s no 1 airline, today (16 July) celebrated carrying 5 million customers to/from Bulgaria since low fares arrived with its first service from Plovdiv to London Stansted in November 2010. The 5,000,000th customer travelled on Ryanair’s flight from Sofia to Chania, part of its Sofia Summer 2019 schedule, which also includes new getaway hotspots such as Edinburgh, Kalamata, Kyiv, Milan Bergamo & Tel Aviv, helping to deliver over 1.5 million customers and support over 1,125 jobs* at Sofia airport.

Ryanair’s Summer 2019 schedule in Bulgaria includes:

· 25 routes from Sofia of which 6 new routes to/from:

– Chania, Edinburgh, Kalamata, Kyiv, Milan B. & Tel Aviv

· 3 routes from Burgas to/from Bratislava, Krakow and Warsaw Modlin

· 1 route from Plovdiv to/from London Stansted

· Over 1.65m customers p.a.

· 1,235* on-site jobs

Bulgarian consumers and visitors can now book their holidays on as far out as March 2020, enjoying even lower fares and Ryanair’s 2019 customer care improvements, including:

· Lowest Fares – find a cheaper fare within 3 hours, get paid the difference plus €/£ 5 MyRyanair credit

· Punctuality – deliver 90% target (excl. ATC) or 5% off following month’s air fares

· Customer Care Charter – EU261 claims processed in 10 days, new 24/7 support, connect in 2 mins

· Care Improvements – 48-hour free of charge grace period for changes to bookings

· Environmental Improvements – carbon offset programme, environmental partnerships & plastic free in 5 years

· New Ryanair Choice – €199 annual fee for free seats, fast-track & priority boarding for freq. guests

· Digital Improvements – new fare finder, sports tickets, bespoke travel guides & faster mobile

To celebrate 5,000,000 customers in Bulgaria, Ryanair has launched a seat sale with fares from just €19.99 for travel in October, which must be booked by midnight Friday (19 Jul), only on the Ryanair.com website.

In Sofia, Olga Pawlonka, Ryanair’s International Communications Manager said:

“Ryanair is delighted to celebrate carrying 5 million customers to/from Bulgaria since its first low fares flight in November 2010 from Plovdiv to London Stansted. This summer Ryanair will operate 6 new routes from Sofia to/from Chania, Edinburgh, Kalamata, Kyiv, Milan B. and Tel Aviv underlining its commitment to Bulgaria, and we look forward to growing traffic, routes and jobs in the coming years.

To celebrate we are releasing seats for sale from just €19.99 which are available to book until midnight Friday (19 July) for travel in October. Since these amazing low prices will be snapped up quickly, customers should log onto www.ryanair.com before they sell out.”

Ivo Marinov, Director of Sofia Tourism Administration, said:

“An easy accessibility is one of the keys for the economic environment in Sofia. The new 6 Ryanair’s routes to/from Sofia indicate the sustainable development of all economic activities and tourism in Sofia and Bulgaria. The possibility to reach the Bulgarian capital directly by plane and the convenient public transport to the city center have turned Sofia into an increasingly desirable tourist destination. For its tourists Sofia offers a variety of opportunities for tourism all year round, no matter what season you come to the city.”

*ACI research confirms up to 750 ‘on-site’ jobs are sustained at international airports for every 1m passengers