Hotel owners in Bulgaria's largest summer resort Sunny Beach are going to accommodate, free of charge, tourists who have been stranded for days now at the airport in the Black Sea city of Burgas.

The information was announced late Saturday by the Chair of the Governing Board of the "Owners Association" at the resort, Elena Ivanova, upon the conclusion of the Association's emergency meeting. It was called after the government Airbus A 319 aircraft was sent to transport families with small children, pregnant women and sick tourists from Burgas and the other Black Sea city of Varna to Moscow.

"We regret that this business dispute created so much discomfort for our visitors," Ivanova is quoted saying. She further explained that Sunny Beach hotel owners will pay for accommodations, food and services for any stranded tourist until the crisis is resolved.

Expert data shows that in summer 2011, Russian reservations at Sunny Beach were 10% higher, compared to last year – 80% of Russian visitors come to Bulgaria on vacation with 75% of them in the summer; 90% travel by air and every other Russian tourists stays in 4 or 5-star hotels.

Bulgaria Air, Bulgaria's national airline carrier and heir to Balkan Airlines, cancelled Saturday 4 flights to Moscow, St. Petersburg and Helsinki that were booked by Alma Tour, who according to the airline owe them some EUR 7 M.

Russian Federal Tourism Agency vice-chair Grigoriy Sarishvili, who has arrived in Bulgaria to help with the situation, has stated that Russian authorities have the information that some 1 000 tourists have been affected by the scandal.

In addition to the 650 stranded at Burgas Airport, there were 350 more at Varna Airport on the northern Bulgarian Black Sea coast.

Some 190 passengers have already been flown to Moscow, with Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov promising the government plane (capacity 90) to fly the neediest, such as children, pregnant women and people who might be ill.

"The cabinet is applying all possible effort to resolve the crisis," Borisov said after the plane took off.

Russian authorities have promised to do everything possible to have their citizens back by Sunday. It is still not certain how the Scandinavian tourists will go back home. Negotiations are underway for flights to Tallinn, Riga or Vilnius Sunday.

Meanwhile, The Sofia City Prosecution started an investigation whether the events were caused by Alma Tour employees, following an order by Bulgarian Chief Prosecutor, Boris Velchev, and consultations with PM Boyko Borisov.

Minister of Transport Ivailo Moskovski and vice-minister in charge of tourism Ivo Marinov, who were on the spot at the Black Sea Burgas Airport Saturday, have suggested that if the actions of the two companies have wronged tourists, they might have their licenses withdrawn.

It was further reported that Bulgaria Air have cancelled the 5 am Sunday flight from Burgas to Riga. The flight has been rescheduled for 12 pm.

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