Bulgarian airline: Norwich airport runway too short
18.02.06
When Bulgaria Air announced earlier this month that it was scrapping its flights from Norwich, it said the airport's infrastructure was the reason why. But the Norwich Evening News claims that the airlines real reason was that they think the runway is too short for their planes.
The Bulgarian airline was due to run charter flights to the Black Sea resort of Bourgas for Portland Holidays Direct, Thomson Holidays and FirstChoice customers. After it pulled out, it left more than 330 passengers forced to fly from other airports or accept a refund.
In a statement to the newspaper, Bulgaria Air said a pilot investigation of the airport found the length of the runway was not suitable for its planes, as it was too short. But Tim Connor, deputy managing director at Norwich Airport, said that jets the size of the Bulgaria Air planes use the airport every single day.
Connor said: 'I believe Bulgaria Air were going to use a Boeing 737 800 to do the Norwich to Bulgaria route and am staggered that they think the runway is too short. We have planes this size taking off and landing at Norwich airport every day and have even had bigger planes use the runway.'
'We tried very hard to get a satisfactory response from the airline but one was not forthcoming. This was a popular route that was selling well but we have not been able to get to the bottom of it at all.'
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