Bulgaria Air

My suitcase was left in Rome by Bulgaria Air. When I asked about how to get it to Sofia, I was informed it was not their fault and I needed to call them to find out when my suitcase was in Sofia. The phone number I received was never answered, and nobody answered my e-mails. I went back to the airport and I was told, rudely, that it was not their fault and they would bring my suitcase home. My suitcase arrived from Rome but was never delivered to my address and nobody called me with information. Next day, I drove again to the airport after trying to reach them by e-mail and phone, receiving no answer. My suitcase was there but I had to prove, through many documents, who I was. All this in a very rude manner, as if I was interrupting their work and was asking for something extraordinary. The whole time I was treated as if I had no right to ask for my suitcase.

The staff at the Bulgaria Air office in Sofia, at the airport and onboard the flight were very helpful and friendly. The cabin service was excellent. My wife is a bit scared of flying and the flight was very smooth and well managed. I would fly with them again.

Flew last week from Vienna to Sofia in Economy and was a lot more satisfied than last time - the aircraft was cleaner and better maintained, cabin crew were a lot more attentive, and the catering has slightly improved (the sandwich accompanied by the chocolate). On-time departure and landing. The cost of a one-way ticket was €130, which I found perfect! The plane was fully booked in Economy, whereas Business class was almost empty.

I fly Bulgaria Air frequently due to the fact that they are without competition on many routes from Sofia. I do not agree with many of the utterly negative opinions about Bulgaria Air. For the 50 something flights I have had with them in the last year, there were no major delays. I last flew on the internal flight VAR-SOF-VAR. The aircraft was one of their new Embraers. However, it did surprisingly look worn out. Boarding started with a delay of twenty minutes, yet we landed on time in Varna. The crew was, as per the general rule in Bulgaria Air, surly. It seemed that the best I could get from them was ignorance. Service was adequate - a chocolate bar and a soft drink. The flight was completely booked so it was amazing how three flight attendants distributed drinks and snacks to 100 people within twenty minutes. The seat comfort was quite ok and I am really not a small man. The best part of the flight was the captain who gave a very entertaining announcement during the flight. All in all, a very decent airline - not the best but not the worst. I would recommend them again.

The flight arrived in Paris with enough time for passengers to disembark and catch connecting flights. But the wrong stairs were brought over to the plane delaying us 20 minutes and allowing staff from Bulgaria Air to arrive with signs telling us our connecting flight was delayed. I checked the flight status on line and saw that this was not true but the bus we were loaded on had already taken us out of the terminal and over to a hotel zone. There was no further communication from Bulgaria Air about rebooking the flight. When I came back to the airport the next day the staff gave me a call center # to get rebooking info packed their things and walked off. I finally got back to USA but my checked luggage is still missing.

I was supposed to have a flight from Varna to Moscow departing at 17.20. When I arrived to the airport 2 hrs in advance I could not find my flight in the list. On information desk they said tha my flight was rescheduled from 17.20 to 20.35. There was no sign of delay on the schedule screen and at 14.00 there were no notices about the delay on the company's site - it appeared much later. The contact center could not comment the delay and sent to the company's representative in Varna Airport. In the airport they could not provide any information either. Later on we discovered that due to the low volume of passengers our flight was combined with the flight going from Tel-Aviv to Varna via Burgas (which of course, the company was aware of much in advance). No services were forseen for the passengers in delay. A lot of passengers were with small babies and with connecting flights to other destinations from Moscow. There were at least two options for such passengers to depart earlier with other companies but Bulgaria Air refused to change tickets saying that the flights were fully booked and there were no tickets (while there were tickets available on the sites of these companies). After a 1.5 hours of battle with Bulgaria Air representative, they agreed to provide water and a sandwich. But they provided no sitting places for the passengers and no check-in till 18.35. So that the passengers had to organize on their own at least to safeguard the luggage (so that single moms and other travellers could go to bathroom or caffeteria without bags). Just some time before 20.35 they re-scheduled the flight again - till 21.00. But at 21.00 the only airplane in the airport departed for Minsk (not for Moscow) leaving small kids and their families on the ground on their feet for over 5 hrs by that time. As a matter of fact the company organized additional juice and water distribution to passengers - this was instead of hot meals and hotels which the company refused to provide. At 21.00 there was a notice on Bulgaria Air official site that the flight had departed at 20.35. The company representative appeared at 21.15 - after the passenger riot explaining that the plane would land from Tel-Avive at 21.10 and depart from Burgas at 21.30 and assured that it would depart for Moscow at 22.20 (which does not seem to be feasible). Still waiting for resolution.

Very happy result of the flights (round trip), very smiley cabin crew with traditional Bulgarian hospitality and good food. For a short trip it was very comfortable, leather seats, with a 2-2 seat configuration it was better as there was more space individually and for once not two halfs of two different windows like on an Airbus but a window for every passenger having that kind of seat. On the return the A319 was very clean and mostly new with more female flight attendants than the inbound flight, very cool as well just one minor problem, please clean the magazine pouches. There was gum on the Airbus in them.

Have used the internal flight Sofia to Burgas a number of times over the last three years. Last trip was three weeks ago. Fantastic value for money. I find its the best transport mode for connecting the Capital to the Black Sea.

SOF-LHR Return. First and last time travelling on Bulgarian Air. Staff on both legs rude but especially so on the return. Boarding was chaos. It was not boarded by number everyone just pushed forward. Legroom is crazy luckily we had exits out and bulk head on the way back. Sat at the front I could see what was happening in the galley area and out of 5 staff only 2 did anything the rest sat talking at the front. The meal was a bread roll with 1 slice of cheese and 1 tiny slice of rolled chicken same on both legs. On both flights we were delayed an hour. To sum up poor on all accounts and we avoid them in the future.

SOF-ATH on E190 even though the plane was delivered in 2012 looks older. The head rests do not have paper cover; on seats you will find a bottle of water. During the 1 hour flight they offered sandwich refreshments or wine and coffee / tea with a bar of chocolate. Staff was professionals. Flight was on time actually 10 minutes early because boarding was completed with 100% load factor. Great ticket cost (compare to competitors) and worth flying with them.