Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts
15 June 2011

Positive Follow-up from Novinite about Facebook Group

Picking up on our recent news story about the Facebook Group, We want Cheap flights from Gorna Oryhavitsa, Novinite.com, the country's leading news agency, has now reported that this is "really good news which warrants greater attention, all the more so because it is multifaceted."

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The Novinite report highlights three crucial areas where Bulgaria has plenty of untapped potential which, to put it in the simplest terms, raises hopes for the future.

First, the story about people from the Veliko Tarnovo region rallying in favor of developing the Gorna Oryahovitsa Airport indicates that several local airports around Bulgaria might have a lot to offer if they are properly developed. The big question, of course, is whether these delapidated and neglected airports can be profitable. If Bulgaria does manage to open up its international transport corridors, though, to attract more and more foreign tourists and encourage more foreign expats in the future, they might well be viable business ventures. And this is not just about the bigger centres of Plovdiv, Varna, and Burgas but also the smaller cities such as: Veliko Tarnovo, Ruse, Targovishte, Balchik, Albena and Vidin, which stand to benefit from passenger and cargo flights.

Second, there is the old cliche about the importance of civil society and how it can change Bulgaria. Novinite points out that what is important here is that the people of the Veliko Tarnovo region are not rallying against a local political issue, but in support of the development of Gorna Oryahovits airport, which is a major economic project.

Third, the Facebook group in question features a lot of British expats living in Bulgaria and, in fact, it was an expat, David Driver, who started the group. Thousands of British and Irish citizens have bought properties in Bulgaria and many have settled here permanently. Novinite identifies that, since Bulgaria is now the country of residence for these expats, their involvement in public life should be welcomed because they can make a significant contribution to improving it by joining with local people and addressing issues that affect everybody.

The Facebook Group page can be found here

Related Article:
Facebook Group in Support of Gorna Oryahovitsa Airport

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13 June 2011

Facebook Group in Support of Gorna Oryahovitsa Airport

A Facebook group set up to call for the launching of passenger flights at the currently inactive passenger airport of Gorna Oryahovitsa located in the very center of Northern Bulgaria has rallied more 1100 people, including both British expats and Bulgarians.

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The Group, We want Cheap flights from Gorna Oryhavitsa, was started in March 2011 when the Bulgarian government approved procedures for offering a concession for the Gorna Oryahovitsa Airport, which is located near Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria's medieval capital. The Veliko Tarnovo region is known for its tourist attractions and is also home to a high number of British expats.

David Driver, the founder of the Facebook group, said that "One of the major low-cost flight operators has stated that it was "considering" flights to Gorna Oryahovitsa and the advantage to the Veliko Tarnovo Area would be tremendous if this airport started handling passenger flights."

Stressing that the group has managed to rally over a thousand people in less than three months, Driver continued "this should indicate the potential of the Gorna Oryahovitsa Airport to investors and highlight the subsequent boost to the local economy from tourism and the creation of employment for locals."

The Bulgarian Cabinet has stated that its goal is to find a concessionaire that would help attract passenger and freight traffic and will invest in the infrastructure and modernisation of the airport. This is one of the goals of the Transport Ministry and is included in the Strategy for the Development of Bulgaria's Transport Infrastructure to 2015. The proposed term of the concession is 35 years and the concessionaires will be decided through an open application procedure.

Gorna Oryahovitsa is a town of 30000 people and Veliko Tarnovo, a district centre of 70000 with a bustling tourism industry. It is also close to the cities of Pleven, Ruse, Gabrovo and Lovech. It is located 200 km away from Sofia, 180 km from Varna and 145 km from Bucharest.

Since 2008-2009, the Gorna Oryahovitsa Airport has not served regular passenger flights but only freight and occasional charter flights. It had only 941 passengers in 2007.

The airport was originally set up in 1925 for the use of the Bulgarian Air Force. In 1948, it opened a direct passenger line to Sofia, the third one in the country. The current infrastructure of the airport was created in the 1970s and completed in the mid 1990s. In 1995, it became the fifth international airport in Bulgaria, after Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas, with customs and border police units.

The Facebook Group page can be found here

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