Budget air carrier Ryanair is contemplating starting a direct link with Bulgaria's second-largest city, Plovdiv. In April 2010, company representatives are scheduled to arrive to make a final decision on the matter, according to Doichin Angelov, director of Plovdiv airport, according to a media statement on March 24 2010.

The Ryanair delegation is expected to arrive in Bulgaria on April 6 and will remain in the country until April 15.

"They will meet with the Transport Minister Alexander Tsvetkov and subsequently will travel to Plovdiv, where we are to finalise our potential agreement with them," Angelov said in the statement.

Ryanair has been showing interest in Bulgaria for several years. But as airport taxes are poised to become three times cheaper than those at Sofia as of April 1, the reality for the line to be launched becomes ever more real.

A forum between the Plovdiv municipal administration and the Bulgarian-Catalan chamber of commerce BGCAT was held in Plovdiv on March 23.

Meanwhile, Sofia Airport said that Danish budget carrier Cimber Sterling will link Copenhagen and Sofia and flights will be conducted biweekly, on Thursdays and Sundays, Dnevnik reported. Currently there is no direct flight to the Danish capital. The flights will start on March 28.

Bulgaria Air used to fly Copenhagen, but the service was withdrawn in 2006.