Construction Review
26 May 2026
Vasil Levski Sofia Airport, located in Sofia, Bulgaria, has secured €450 million in international financing to fund the construction of a new Terminal 3 and the modernisation of its existing infrastructure, marking the most significant aviation capital investment in the country’s history.
Operator SOF Connect confirmed that construction is scheduled to commence in autumn 2026, with the terminal targeted for full operational status by April 2031.
The financing carries a 22-year tenor and is structured through a combination of bank lending and a project finance bond, the first of its kind issued by a Bulgarian public-private partnership on a regulated market, listed on Euronext Dublin. Leading international investors including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and UniCredit Group are participating in the package.
Designed by Bulgarian architectural firm IPA in collaboration with aviation engineering specialists Egis and French airport design studio 1PAX, the new terminal will span approximately 65,000 square metres and connect directly to the refurbished Terminal 2, forming a unified airport system of roughly 110,000 square metres.
Upon completion, the combined facility will be capable of handling up to 20 million passengers annually, nearly tripling current throughput. SOF Connect is also pursuing a five-star SkyTrax certification for Terminal 3, which would make it the first regional airport in Europe to achieve that designation...
