A domestic flight on Bulgaria Air

[Mattg]

For something a bit different, I flew today with Bulgaria Air on a domestic flight from Varna to Sofia.

Bulgaria Air operates this route 3x daily using modern Airbus A220s. The flight takes 50 minutes and for an Economy seat with a checked bag, I paid €101 (AUD163).

The bus from the centre of Varna to the airport cost €1, with buses running every 30 minutes. You can buy a ticket from the machine inside the bus using cash or card.

Like many airports in ex-Soviet countries, Varna Airport has an older terminal that’s no longer used, and a new terminal next to it. The airport itself is unmistakably run by Fraport, and features the same signage that you would find at Frankfurt Airport.



Checkin for my flight to Sofia opened 2 hours before departure, and there was barely any line.



Within a few minutes I was through security and headed over to the “VIP/Business Lounge”, which I accessed via Dragonpass. This is the only lounge at this airport and it’s not huge, but had enough space given the small number of flights from this airport. It didn’t have much food, but had some snacks and a standard selection of drinks. A cool feature is the outdoor, open-air terrace with a view of the runway.

 

[Mattg]

The inbound plane from Sofia landed on time and we were soon boarding through a bus gate.



Qantas may be the “Spirit of Australia”, and Philippine Airlines may be “The Heart of the Filipino”, but Bulgaria Air’s catchy tagline is “National Carrier”. How memorable!

The flight being shown on the gate screen during boarding was not actually our flight at all.

One area where Bulgaria Air does show attention to detail, though, is in the registration codes of its aircraft. My plane was LZ-AMS, and every other A220 and E190 in the airline’s fleet also has a registration code named after a European city that the airline serves. Nice.



We pushed back on time and the crew completed a manual safety demonstration in Bulgarian and English.



The Bulgaria Air A220-300 has 8 recliner business class seats across 2 rows. The airline offers upgrades for €100 on domestic flights or €180 on international flights.

I didn’t bother upgrading for the 50-minute hop and was happy with my economy seat. The airline uses the usual 2-3 economy layout on this aircraft, and the seats are modern and comfortable.



There is no in-flight entertainment or Wi-Fi, but the seatbacks do have USB-A and USB-C charging outlets. There was also a Bulgaria Air magazine and a copy of last month’s Bloomberg Businessweek Bulgaria. Between browsing through both of those magazines and enjoying the view out the window, the flight went very quickly.



We took off towards the east and flew briefly over the Black Sea, before turning around towards Sofia.



The crew completed a quick, complimentary in-flight drink service and gave everyone little Bulgaria Air branded chocolates.



Soon we were descending into Sofia, where we landed right on time.



We had to get bussed into the terminal, and once I got to the baggage claim, my bag was already there.

From there, it was just a short walk outside the terminal to the metro station, where I caught a train into downtown Sofia. The fare was €1.10 and you can pay by simply tapping your credit card at the gate.



All in all, this was a very smooth and enjoyable travel experience. It may not have the best marketing and isn’t affiliated with any frequent flyer program other than its own, but I would be happy to fly Bulgaria Air again!

 

[RooFlyer]

Did you spend some time in Varna? I’m thinking of doing a hop from Istanbul there in a couple of weeks and would be interested to hear if you have any impressions.