Business of the future. This is how aviation and all its related industries and services can be described. The sector has soared in the last few years, including in Bulgaria. The country's top 10 airlines have total revenues of more than 1.2 billion levs for 2023. Bulgaria Air, the only domestic carrier, has upgraded part of its fleet with new aircraft, and the sector describes the investment as "good image" not only for the airline but also for the country.
Over the past few years, several new names have appeared on the Bulgarian airlines list, such as Fly2Sky, Electra Airways, and Compass Cargo Airlines. They have rapidly increased their fleets and have plans for more. They operate both passenger and cargo flights, often for foreign partners, some with foreign owners.
Explanations for the Bulgarian location range from the good tax rate and competitiveness in the market to the strong aviation traditions and personnel that have been there since the time of the socialist-era Balkan Airways, dating back to when the country still had its own aircraft production.
Moreover, Bulgaria has also managed to position itself as a location for aircraft maintenance. Sofia Airport estimates that it currently has 19 such lines, and the airport's concessionaire plans to expand this activity even further and turn the airport into a hub for maintenance. There is also an ambitious investment plan for Burgas.
Last, but not least, come the aircraft parts factories - the examples here are two foreign industries in Sofia and Plovdiv. In short, the Bulgarian airline industry is now probably a 2 billion levs business with more than 4,000 employees.
What spurs the market?
A key driver of what's happening on home soil is international demand for aviation service, which is driving the need for more planes and more people. The forecast for the next 20 years is for growth. The Airbus Global Services Forecast (2024 - 2043) report predicts a near doubling of the number of aircraft compared to 2023 (those with 100+ seats and 10+ tonnes of cargo) to 24 thousand. By 2043, orders for new aircraft will top 42,000 (with 18 460 of these replacing older aircraft). The need for new mechanics over the next 20 years is estimated at 690,000, for new pilots - 620,000 and 950,000 for cabin crew - or the total bill swells to more than 2.2 million additional qualified people.
There is also currently a shortage of aircraft due to slow deliveries from factories and specific problems, such as those with Pratt & Whitney engines, which have grounded more than 170 aircraft. This has further boosted demand for aircraft on wet lease, i.e. the ACMI segment, where aircraft are provided with crews, maintenance and insurance to fly on airlines' and their tour operators' routes. "There is a lot of demand in the market right now for ACMI. Tourism is growing, which is dragging aviation after it. Travel companies are working hard and sometimes there are not enough planes," says Todor Ivandjikov, chairman of the Bulgarian Aviation Industry Association.
Airlines of the Night
The rule that there is no better passenger than a container is followed by the carriers of the night - the cargo airlines. Although the container doesn't complain, it, like the passenger, needs to be on time, and punctuality is key to the success of cargo airlines. Especially when the partner is German. "On an annual basis, we fly 99.97% on schedule. That means the deviation can be up to 5 minutes. When it is over 5 minutes, it is considered a delay," says Konstantin Taskov of Cargo Air, which has 14 Boeing 737s that do 80 flights per plane per month, mostly for DHL and UPS.
A second airline focused on cargo flights, in particular those from China - Compass Cargo Airlines - has also appeared on the market. It already operates three Boeing 747s for overseas flights, two of them flying between Hong Kong and Dubai, the third also landing in Sofia at least twice a month, and also flying to Chicago. And the company's big idea is to turn Sofia Airport into a hub for air cargo between China and Europe and America. The firm is owned by Compass Air Cargo with Compass Air Cargo - Netherlands, as the majority shareholder. The ultimate beneficial owner is Istanbul-born Daalar Cizmeci, son of Yavuz Cizmeci, a leading name in the aviation business in Turkey for the past 30 years.
Evgeny Muzyka's European Air Charter planes now carry passengers to over 17 cities in Germany, as well as to destinations in Poland, Denmark, Slovakia, Austria, Israel, Switzerland, Italy and more.
New Passenger Companies
In passenger flights, there are also a few relatively new names that are quickly gaining altitude. Electra Airways, founded by Stefan Trifonov, took its first plane in 2017. The following year, a contract was signed with Enter Air, Poland's second-largest airline. This year Electra Airways will fly 12 Airbus aircraft. The company operates charter and ACMI flights and has an engineering offshoot.
Also operating entirely on ACMI is Fly2Sky, which already has a fleet of 10 aircraft - eight Airbus A320s and two Airbus A321s. The fleet has doubled in the last 18 months. The airline's aircraft are currently based at six bases around the world - Miami, Paris, Lagos, two bases in Egypt, in Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh, and one aircraft in Sofia, which currently flies for Wizz Air to their destinations. The major achievement for 2025 is its contract with TUI Airlines for 4 aircraft starting in April.
The traditional big player and its new planes
In the last few years the biggest airline in the country and the only one with regular flights - Bulgaria Air, started the renewal of part of its fleet. It has a total of 17 aircraft, and in mid-2023 it welcomed the first of 7 brand new Airbus A220 series aircraft, with the seventh and final one recently arriving from the Airbus manufacturing center in Mirabel, Canada. In recent years, Bulgaria Air has reported growth: in 2024, passengers were up by 30,000, and the number of flights - by 314. This is primarily due to an increase in frequencies on some of the airline's main scheduled routes to various European destinations.
Despite the scheduled program, the ACMI segment also accounts for the largest component of Bulgaria Air's flight operations - 12 aircraft, or 54%. The airline's scheduled routes rank second with a 32% share, and charter flights third with 14%. "The main partners with whom we work on the so-called wet lease are Air Serbia, Condor, Marabu, as well as some of the largest travel companies in Western Europe such as Balkan Holidays and TUI," Bulgaria Air said.
In conclusion, the airline industry will boom globally at least in the medium term. This expansion is also being felt in Bulgaria. Business here is unlikely to become a key sector like IT or auto parts factories, but it is one with good added value and potential. The sky's the limit.
Business of the future. This is how aviation and all its related industries and services can be described. The sector has soared in the last few years, including in Bulgaria. The country's top 10 airlines have total revenues of more than 1.2 billion levs for 2023. Bulgaria Air, the only domestic carrier, has upgraded part of its fleet with new aircraft, and the sector describes the investment as "good image" not only for the airline but also for the country.
Over the past few years, several new names have appeared on the Bulgarian airlines list, such as Fly2Sky, Electra Airways, and Compass Cargo Airlines. They have rapidly increased their fleets and have plans for more. They operate both passenger and cargo flights, often for foreign partners, some with foreign owners.
