Balkan Bulgarian Airlines

Balkan Bulgarian Airlines from 1946 to 2002, the Bulgarian national airline with headquarters in the capital Sofia. Balkan Bulgarian Airlines operated as a charter and a scheduled airline.

History

The origin of the airline was the establishment of BVS Bulgarske Vazdusne Sobsternic in 1947. The first flight took place on June 29, 1947 by Sofia to Burgas. Shortly afterwards followed the inland route Sofia Varna, from 2 August 1947. The first international connection was Sofia -Budapest which was taken on August 12, 1947. After that was established with the help and participation of the Soviet Union, a new company called TABSO, this started flight operations with two Lisunow Li -2 in the fall of 1948. For this purpose also Soviet pilots and technicians were used on the Bulgarian airfields. 1954, this airline completely to the Bulgarian state. The freight business was expanded with the Einflotten some Antonov An-12. The first machine of this type came from 1963 to the fleet and were taken directly from the manufacturer.

Context of the airline in the Communist Economic and Political System

Balkan Bulgarian Airline was from the beginning until the sale in 2002, a purely state airline. In the communist era in Bulgaria it was thus also how other companies bound at the 5 -year plan and had to satisfy the respective budget figures. In the former system, many tasks were bundled, which were separated in western economies and filled with different providers. Thus were the agricultural flights as well to the tasks of airline flights for government as politicians and members of the Central Committee. Furthermore, one had its own travel agencies in almost all Bulgarian cities, capitals of the fraternal socialist countries and sporadically in various other European and North African capitals and major cities. The range of maintenance and repair was another big part of the airline. Large shipyards for maintenance were set up in Sofia, Varna and Burgas and smaller yards were home to the regional locations. Overall, the company was one of the biggest Bulgarian employers during the Communist period.

Development from 1968 as Balkan Bulgaria Airlines

Since 1968, the airline changed its name officially Balkans Bulgaria Air Transport. Later, however, was only the name Balkan Bulgarian Airlines in use. As early as 1962 was the first aircraft Ilyushin Il -18 to buy. This turboprop is the state airline allowed to fly to and distant targets, such as Kenya and Peru have now been flown regularly. Similar to other airlines in Eastern Europe were in 1968, the first short and medium-haul jets of the type Tupolev Tu- 134 are purchased from the manufacturer. From 1972, the first aircraft of the type Tupolev Tu -154 were purchased from the Soviet Union. As was the case of the Tu- 134A in 1968, Balkan Airlines was Bulgaria this time the first foreign customer of this type at all. In the form of the series Tupolev Tu- 154B or Tu- 154B -2 and Tupolev Tu- 154M should characterize these aircraft until the mid- 1990s, the character of the fleet crucial. Although the part of the Soviet builder standing with the Ilyushin Il- 62 jet for long-haul routes available to Balkan Airlines Bulgaria had decided to no time for the purchase of these aircraft, much more the Tu- 154 were used on these routes. With three million annual passengers counted Balkans reached mid-1970s, the highest number of passengers of all airlines in the Eastern Bloc. Unlike western Airline usual, also helicopters in the inventory of the Balkan Airlines were Bulgariane. These included the pattern Mil Mi -4 and Mil Mi- 8, which came almost exclusively on the low -traffic domestic routes used and have been used for transport and special tasks. With the onset of the second oil crisis in 1979 also began difficult years for Balkan Bulgarian Airlines. The annual number of passengers fell below one million passengers carried and the high fuel costs ensured a high deficit. Only in 1985 more passengers than before the beginning of the oil crisis could be counted again. By the end of the 1980s, the number of passengers increased to three million. In three equal parts, each approximately one million passengers a year, this split on domestic flights on charter flights and scheduled flights.

Especially during the summer months were high numbers of passengers in charter traffic recorded. The tourist destinations on the Black Sea coast were served, for example, from all major airports of the GDR, this included flights from the airports of Berlin -Schönefeld, Dresden, Erfurt and Leipzig- Schkeuditz to Burgas and Varna.

Development from 1989

The political changes of 1989 had far-reaching consequences for Balkan Bulgarian Airlines. The heavily subsidized until 1989 by the Bulgarian state company ran into financial problems and was held mid-1990s by an Israeli consortium financially afloat. However, it was not considered that so far all the more profitable destinations would disappear in the Arab world ( which made much of the traffic from ) and the early 2000s, the insolvency could not be avoided.

Also in the fleet took place a strong change. With opening of the Iron Curtain, looking specifically for a modern and efficient aircraft. As early as November 1990, three Boeing 737-500 integrated into the fleet. On 21 December 1991, the first leased Airbus A320 -231 came (Reg. LZ -ABA) from the portfolio of Orix in the fleet of Balkan Bulgarian Airlines. This was followed in the spring and summer of 1992, three more aircraft of this type (Reg. LZ- ABB to LZ- ABD). For destinations with large passenger volumes could be taken two Boeing 767 -200ER, which remained until the beginning of 1999 in the holdings of Bulgaria Balkan Airlines. At the same time, the stock of the Tupolev Tu- 154 was continuously reduced, to destinations in Eastern Europe were used in the first place.

Two of the three Boeing 737-500 aircraft were replaced in December 1999 and January 2000 by first two aircraft of the same type of series 737-300. Another aircraft of type Boeing 737-300 added from the stock in May 2000.

Has only episodic character of the new addition to the fleet by means of two additional Boeing 737-300 from the portfolio of Lufthansa. In the stock and the use of two ATR 42 in late fall 1999

Following the bankruptcy of Balkan Bulgarian Airlines in October 2002 the Bulgarian state founded in 2002, Bulgaria Air as his successor.

Destination airports

In the years before the collapse of many small airports like Russian, Targovishte, Plovdiv and Veliko Tarnovo was served, which were closed with the loss of subsidies after 1989. In part, it is at these airports to primarily used military airfields. Later they flew within Bulgaria in only the international airports in the cities of Sofia, Varna, Burgas.

Fleet

Balkan Bulgarian Airlines continued until 1989 aircraft folgdender types: passenger and cargo flights: Antonov An-12, Antonov An-24, Tupolev Tu- 134 Tupolev Tu -154, Yakovlev Yak -40, Ilyushin Il -14, Ilyushin Il -18.

Special tasks: Mil Mi -1, Mil Mi-8, Kamov Ka -26, Antonov An-2, let Z -37.

As of 1992, an attempt was made by the leasing of machines of the Airbus A320 -231, Boeing 737-300 and Boeing 767-200. This new flight patterns within the Balkan fleet came almost exclusively on routes to Western and Northern Europe for use. For example, according to the relations:

• Germany Frankfurt (Main)
• Germany Dusseldorf
• Spain Barcelona
• Switzerland Zurich -Kloten

The long-haul Boeing 767 flew for example, Routes to New York but also occasionally used to Asia and were on intra-European routes.

Incidents

• On February 12, 1977, leased to Libyan Arab Airlines Tupolev Tu- 154B crashed (LZ - BTN) in the dense fog during the landing attempt at the airport in Benghazi ( Libya ) from and crashed. 59 Of the 159 passengers on board did not survive the disaster. The light coming from Jeddah aircraft was on a Hajj flight and the crew managed with the remaining amount of fuel no longer to fly to an alternate airport, it was destroyed by the crash.

• On March 16, 1978, the Tupolev Tu-134 (LZ -TUB ) collided on the flight from Sofia to Warsaw with a mountain near Gabare (Bulgaria) and crashed. None of the 66 passengers and 7 crew members survived the accident.

• As on January 10, 1984, the Tupolev Tu-134 (LZ - TUR) landing at the airport of Sofia, in heavy snow collided with a transmission and is four kilometers away from the runway crashed in a wooded area, were all 45 passengers and five crew members to life.