Sofia Airport Now Just 18 Minutes from Downtown Area

It is now taking only 18 minutes with the new subway section in Bulgaria's capital Sofia to move between the city center and the airport.

The new leg leading to Sofia Airport was officially launched Thursday, with the first train departing at 13:00 EEST (11:00 GMT).

The distance has been measured by subway officials from the Serdika station in the center.

On Thursday the extension was marked at a special ceremony at the Sofia Airport station attended by Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov, Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova and ministers of regional development (Lilyana Pavlova), transport (Ivaylo Moskovski) and environment (Ivelina Vasileva).

Borisov hailed the event and all developments relating to the subway's extension over the past years some of which have bee largely attributed to his mayoral tenure in mid-2000s.

Later this spring, another leg leading to Sofia Business Park is also to start carrying passengers.