Sofia Airport commits to an eco-friendly digital workflow with Evrotrust
SOF Connect, the concessionaire of Sofia Airport, has embarked on a journey to implement environmentally friendly policies all-around and plans to completely neutralize the hub’s carbon footprint by 2036. One of the first steps in this complex process was switching to paperless documentation, which SOF Connect achieved through implementing Evrotrust’s qualified electronic signatures.
Products used
- Mobile eSignature
Bulgaria
Enterprise
“The implementation of Evrotrust was very quick because in a couple of weeks we integrated this process inside the company. It is very easy, very intuitive, and people are very well guided, so it is quite simple to use. The result is that we have digitalized fully the signing of contracts within the company with Evrotrust. Thanks to this, in a year and a half of implementation, we have economized on more than 200,000 pages of documents, as well as on the cover costs and loss of time in the exchange of documentation.”
– Stephane Vernede,
Chief Financial Officer, SOF Connect
Summary
- SOF Connect was looking to expand its ESG strategy, which required a paperless service to sign contracts securely, while also minimizing paper usage.
- The most convenient route to achieve this goal was to implement Evrotrust’s DocuSign integration.
- As a result, SOF Connect is able to maintain compliance across the EU and sign contracts electronically with clients and partners around the globe.
The challenge
Since SOF Connect aims to improve its sustainability in multiple avenues, it needed to reduce its reliance on paper. It has developed a detailed ESG strategy that specifies the need for electronic document management and signing, which is just one part of the company’s 624-million-euro plan to modernize Sofia Airport.
Not only would such a solution support Sofia Airport’s effort to go green, but it would also simplify cooperation with international clients and partners, who will benefit from the ability to sign contracts remotely.
The solution
Since SOF Connect was already using DocuSign to handle some of its administrative needs, it chose to implement Evrotrust’s dedicated integration available in the platform. Our solution conveniently fit with their established process, making the transition to digital frictionless.
One specific issue that Evrotrust addressed was compliance. DocuSign’s services were not automatically compliant in all markets that applied to Sofia Airport. At the same time, the qualified electronic signature by Evrotrust meets the relevant legal requirements, providing the broad coverage SOF Connect was looking for.
The results
Thanks to the addition of Evrotrust’s eSignature feature in DocuSign, Sofia Airport was able to digitize its contract-signing process quickly and reliably, with no interruptions to its operations. While the initial integration happened in 2023, in 2024 we observed a 38% spike in SOF Connect’s demand for digital trust services, which demonstrates the company’s gradual shift towards electronic document management.
In fact, SOF Connect prides itself on achieving 100% digitalization of its contract-signing. This transformation also comes with a notable reduction in the costs associated with printing and shipping documents back and forth. In addition, the transition to electronic signatures is fully in line with SOF Connect’s long-term sustainability goals.
About Sofia Airport
Sofia Airport is the biggest international airport in Bulgaria and is currently under the concession of SOF Connect (as of 2021). The latter has signed a 35-year contract to manage Sofia Airport, during which it hopes to apply the best practices of the aviation industry and know-how from other successful airports around the globe to transform Sofia Airport into a thriving transportation hotspot.
SOF Connect’s plans for the airport include building a brand-new third terminal to expand Sofia’s traffic capacity, decarbonizing the fleet, increasing recycling efforts, and powering the airport facilities with renewable energy. Ultimately, SOF Connect aims to transform Sofia Airport into a truly modern, industry-leading transport hub in the years to come.
