Bulgaria Air

Infobox Airline
airline=Bulgaria Air
logo=BulgariaAir.pnglogo_size=300
IATA=FB
ICAO=LZB
callsign=FLYING BULGARIA
parent=Balkan Hemus Group AG
founded=2002
key_people= Dimitar Pavlov - CEO
Alexander Kerezov - Procurist
Grisha Jenkov - Commercial Director
headquarters= Sofia, Bulgaria
hubs=Sofia International Airport
Varna Airport
Bourgas Airport
focus_cities= Sofia, Bulgaria
frequent_flyer= FlyFB Bonus Points
lounge= Business Lounge Sofia, VIP Lounge Sofia
alliance=
fleet_size=22 (+4 orders)
destinations=34
subsidiaries= Hemus Air, Viaggio Air
website= [http://www.air.bg/bg www.air.bg/bg] Bulgarian
[http://www.air.bg www.air.bg] English

Bulgaria Air (Bulgarian name: България Ер) is the national airline carrier of Bulgaria, based in the capital, Sofia. It operates scheduled services to 21 countries in Western Europe, Czech Republic, Israel and Russia. Its main base is Sofia Airport. Bulgaria Air owns two additional airlines, Hemus Air and Viaggio Air. The two airlines operate only as Bulgaria Air and will eventually become merged into Bulgaria Air.Flight International 27 March 2007]

History

The airline was established in 2002 as a successor to the insolvent Balkan Bulgarian Airlines. By order of the Minister of Transportation and Communications it was declared the flag carrier in November 2002, starting operations on 4 December 2002. The name and logo were determined by a public competition [http://www.air.bg/en/about Air.bg - Travel with pleasure all over the world! ] ] . Bulgaria Air was privatized in 2006; although it was rumoured that the government wanted to sell the carrier to a major foreign investor, a union of locally-owned companies, led by Hemus Air, emerged as the buyer with Italian Air One being the only other contender [ [http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/candidate-for-bulgaria-air-selected/id_18350/catid_23/search_1 Sofia Echo] ] . Hemus Air reportedly paid Euro 6.6 m and promised to invest a further Euro 86 m over the next five years [ [http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/bulgaria-air-deal-completed/id_19695/catid_64 Sofia Echo] ] . It is seeking since last year to acquire up to 15 new aircraft to expand activities in Bulgaria as a result [Airliner World April 2008] . Among these new aircraft will be at least one capable of a trans-atlantic flight to get the company moving and to open trans-continental routes. [ [http://www.ch-aviation.ch/airlinepage.php?code1=FB CH-Aviation] 13 December 2006]

Codeshare agreements

Bulgaria Air has codeshare agreements with;
*Aeroflot
*Air France
*Air One
*Alitalia
*Austrian Airlines
*Brussels Airlines
*Czech Airlines [ends 22 October]
*El Al
*KLM
*LOT Polish Airlines
*MALEV Hungarian Airlines
*Virgin Atlantic Airways

Destinations

Fleet

External links

* [http://www.air.bg/ Official website]

References