Air VIA

Infobox Airline
airline = Air Via

logo_size =
fleet_size = 4
destinations =
IATA = VL
ICAO = VIM
callsign = VIA AIRWAYS
parent =
company_slogan =
founded = 1990
headquarters = flagicon|Bulgaria Sofia, Bulgaria
key_people =
hubs = Sofia International Airport
Varna International Airport
secondary_hubs =
focus_cities =
frequent_flyer =
lounge =
alliance =
website = http://www.air-via.com/

Air VIA (Bulgarian Airways) is an airline based in Sofia, Bulgaria. It operates mainly holiday charter services for tour operators. Its main bases are Sofia International Airport and Varna International Airport.Flight International 27 March 2007] Together with Bulgarian Air Charter they are the biggest charter airlines in Bulgaria.

History

The airline was founded and started operations in 1990 as Varna International Airways using a Tupolev Tu-154M aircraft. It was established by a group of private Bulgarian investors and operates charter flights for BG Tours (Germany), Jetair (Belgium), Neckermann Deutschland, Prodintour (France) and TUI Deutschland. It has 142 employees.

In December 2003 it was reported that Air Via was considering an order for up to 10 Tupolev Tu-214 aircraft. In February 2005 Air VIA was considering replacing its Tupolev Tu-154M fleet by either Boeing 737-400s or McDonnell Douglas MD-80s. Finally, Air Via decided to replace the Tupolevs with Airbus A320-200 aircraft. Fact|date=April 2007

Destinations

Air Via operates charter services to the following destinations as of (at January 2008):

*flagicon|Bulgaria Bulgaria
**Bourgas "(Bourgas Airport)"
**Sofia "(Sofia Airport)"
**Varna "(Varna Airport)"

*flagicon|Germany Germany
**Berlin "(Berlin-Schönefeld Airport)"
**Berlin "(Berlin-Tegel Airport)"
**Bremen "(Bremen Airport)"
**Cologne "(Cologne Airport)"
**Dortmund "(Dortmund Airport)"
**Dresden "(Dresden Airport)"
**Dusseldorf "(Düsseldorf International Airport)"
**Erfurt "(Erfurt Airport)"
**Frankfurt "(Frankfurt Airport)"
**Hamburg "(Hamburg Airport)"
**Hanover "(Hanover International Airport)"
**Leipzig "(Leipzig/Halle Airport)"
**Munich "(Munich Airport)"
**Munster "(Münster Osnabrück International Airport)"
**Nuremberg "(Nuremberg Airport)"
**Paderborn "(Paderborn Lippstadt Airport)"
**Rostock "(Rostock-Laage Airport)"
**Saarbrucken "(Saarbrucken Airport)"
**Stuttgart "(Stuttgart Airport)"

Fleet

The Air VIA fleet includes the following aircraft (at May 2008):

*4 Airbus A320-232

As of 3 June 2008, the average age of the Air VIA fleet is 2.4 years ( [http://www.airfleets.net/ageflotte/Air%20Via.htm] ).

External links

* [http://www.air-via.com/ Air VIA]
* [http://www.ch-aviation.ch/aircraft.php?search=set&airline=VL&al_op=1 Air VIA Fleet]

References