The Bulgarian Aviation Company Hemus Air and Lufthansa Technik, the maintenance subsidiary of the German airline, have formed a 20-80 joint venture for aircraft maintenance in Bulgaria, Hemus Air Executive Director Dimiter Pavlov told BTA on Tuesday.

The agreement on the 20 million euro investment will be signed on August 25. For the time being, the joint venture will maintain Boeing 737s but in future the project is to be expanded to cover larger aircraft like Boeing 777 and Airbus A340.

Repairs will most probably start at the end of 2008. They will be carried out at Sofia Airport. Up to 22 aircraft will be maintained annually. Three hundred and eighty new jobs will be created.

Since the beginning of 2007, Hemus Air has formed part of the Chimimport-owned Bulgarian Aviation Group together with Bulgaria Air and Viaggio Air. As a result of the merger of part of the operations of the three airlines, the number of passengers they transport will increase by 25-30 per cent by the end of this year. The idea is that Bulgaria Air take over all scheduled fluights and the other airline concentrate on charter operations.

The management of the Bulgarian Aviation Group says the three airlines now control 30 per cent of the Bulgarian air market.