Sofia Airport

Customer Reviews

3 star Skytrax Rating
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Queuing Times 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Staff 12345
Customer rating from 74 reviews
4/10
3 star Skytrax Rating
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2/10

"management must give them training"

(Portugal)

Trip Verified | Not the first time I flew from this airport, after visiting this beautiful country, full of fantastic people, but never felt so uncomfortable as in Sofia Airport, personnel must be chosen by his rudeness. Airport management must give them training and education to handle people. This happen to me not one of two times, but 4 or of 6 I have been here. Please, airport management, correct it to keep the lovely standards of the rest of Bulgaria.
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitJanuary 2023
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages N/A
Airport Staff 12345
no
5/10

"Incompetent baggage handling"

(United Kingdom)

Not Verified | I have flown out of this airport many times, but I have never had an experience quite like my last one. I was travelling from SOF to LHR via VIE on Austrian Airlines. The issues started at check-in with a software issue causing a long queue. By the time I had got through said queue there was only 30 mins left before my scheduled departure, but because of this delay at check-in the whole flight was delayed, causing me to miss my connection in VIE and had to be rebooked on a BA flight later that day. Upon my eventual arrival at LHR I found out that my suitcase was not there. I initially thought that this might be a problem which had arisen because of the change of flights in VIE but after contacting the BA baggage team (who were indeed quite helpful) I was told that my bag had been loaded on a flight from SOF-MUC which had left SOF at around the same time as my flight to VIE by the ground handlers at SOF. I know these things happen and my bag was eventually returned but, in this case, I can only blame it on incompetence. My fellow passengers also travelling on the same itinerary (SOF-VIE-LHR) had the same problem. When you have 2 flights operating with the same check-in desks and using similar baggage numbers leaving at a similar time surely you must be more careful in loading the right bag onto the right flight. Incompetent baggage handling at SOF led to my suitcase being lost.
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitSeptember 2022
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Airport Staff 12345
yes
1/10

"the second most dirty airport"

(United States)

Trip Verified | This the second most dirty airport I have ever visited. There were no covers for the toilet seats, before and after you enter the gates, you can locate the toilets just from the smell when you pass by, this airport does not welcome the tourists, and for sure does not represent the Bulgarian hospitality. The gates are not properly maintained and they are also understaffed. Thy had 4 desks open to help passengers from 4 different flights. I came early and I still had to wait almost an hour on the line to get to the check in desk, what is the point of self check in if there are no places to drop your luggage and enter the gate, we all had to wait in the same line. Also one of the biggest issues is that there wasn’t any Wi-Fi paidd or free.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitAugust 2022
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
4/10

"Not ideal at all for any transit"

(Saudi Arabia)

Trip Verified | Not ideal at all for any transit involving a self-transfer. There are two different departure terminals and I was initially sent to the wrong one (Terminal 1) which is close (walking distance) to the terminal I arrived in. I was directed to airport shuttle and all the passengers waited for more than 15 minutes in the bus after which the driver appeared with a coffee. In the correct terminal 2, the queues were slow - an initial passport and boarding pass check followed by super slow security followed by immigration. I missed my flight and had to buy a new ticket but refused to leave the gates area. Lovely country and people but definitely not a transit hub!
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitJuly 2022
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
10/10

"help with retrieval of my forgotten bag"

(Australia)

Trip Verified | I am very thankful and delighted for everyone's help at the airport with retrieval of my forgotten bag at the terminal. I could not be more appreciative with staffs help and understanding. I had lots of important things in that bag and if they wouldn't have helped me, I wouldn't have gotten my things back. Thank you so much. What a great bunch of people!
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitJuly 2022
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages N/A
Airport Shopping 12345
Airport Staff 12345
yes
1/10

"wait 15 minutes crammed into the bus"

(Greece)

Trip Verified | Horrible experience during the transfer from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 with the Shuttle. We arrived in Sofia airport at Terminal 1 by bus. The information we had was that a bus would come to take us to Terminal 2. Came a bus very small in very poor condition and could accommodate only about twenty people with large suitcases. The bus filled up in 10 minutes and we were crowded inside. There was no open window and no air-condition. We had to wait 15 minutes crammed into the bus because the bus could not leave earlier than the schedule. This is a perfect example of why some people visiting Bulgaria never want to come back again. I am writing this review because i believe something can change in good way. Please everyone who reads this bad review and can do something to act quickly and rigorously.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitJune 2022
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
1/10

"Appalling and rude staff"

(United Kingdom)

Trip Verified | Appalling and rude staff. When at the security checks, the lady telling me to put my bags in the basket before the scanner was telling me off for putting a full looking plastic bag regardless of the fact that I reassured her that it didn’t contain any bottles. After going through the metal detector, although I had no belts or jewellery, it kept beeping and the lady who was scanning everyone started giving me intense attitude. She was very impatient and made me feel extremely uncomfortable and then started patting me down and lifting my shirt, exposing my upper body, right in front of everyone there. When I expressed my distress and discomfort, she started arguing with me which led to her taking me into a private room, asking me to strip off all my clothes in which I refused. She started arguing with me and said it’s procedure and blamed it on me for being uncomfortable with the way she was patting me down in front of everyone. I expressed to her many times that I do not have an issue with the procedure that she has to carry out, but just the fact that I wish she had asked whether I would prefer to be taken to a private room if lifting my shirt was so necessary for me to board the plane. Regardless of me expressing my discomfort and making her aware of my hidden disability, she did not care about how I felt and kept arguing with me. I asked her to call a superior and her superior didn’t know any English and was giving me even worse attitude than her and was laughing at me for being uncomfortable with the situation. Her impatience and my constant refusal to strip led to her calling the airport police who was thankfully willing to hear me out and watch her carry out the procedure without me having to strip off all my clothes. After continuing on through the border control and passport checks, all the staff that had witnessed the scene kept staring at me in a discomforting way which made me feel even worse than I was already feeling. Please educate your staff on how to deal with people and be considerate of people with hidden disabilities. This is such a shame because I loved the city and had plans to come back, I hope something like this does not happen again. Be careful everyone.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitJune 2022
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
no
1/10

"the worst airport I have been to"

(United Arab Emirates)

Trip Verified | Sofia International Airport is the worst airport I have been to. The Airport in Bombay is 1000 times better than Sofia. The waiting area before check-in is ridiculously basic. Toilets are disgusting, there are no basic facilities like phone charging. If you have a big gap between flights...good luck! Especially if it's early in the morning - there is no decent coffee, comfortable seats or place to work from your computer. Sofia Airport is the first thing that tourists see when they arrive in our “European” country, no surprise then why they don’t want to come back…
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitMay 2022
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
1/10

"such a disgusting attitude"

(United Kingdom)

Trip Verified | Disappointing attitude of the airport staff. They denied my boarding to UK (the country I work and live in for the past 5 years) stating that my Covid Pass (issued by the NHS England) is not going to be accepted in England. That cost me a huge amount of money in order to travel the next day. They didn't want to give any answers to my questions, they refused to let me speak to a Supervisor, they didn't want to scan the QR code of my Covid Pass, and didn't provide any solution to my problem, just shut the Gate doors Infront of me and rolled their eyes. I've been traveling all over Europe and have never experienced such a disgusting attitude. I've arrived in England a day late and border control told me my Covid Pass was perfectly acceptable there. I doubt Sofia Airport will do anything about my complaint or reimburse any of my extra costs caused by them.
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitFebruary 2022
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages N/A
Airport Staff 12345
no
1/10

"Appalling customer service"

(United Kingdom)

Trip Verified | Appalling customer service across the board from handling agents to shop assistants-talking on their mobiles whilst pretending to serve customers, extremely rude and impatient as if the people paying their wages were an inconvenience to them. If you don't like the job you are in, have some self - respect and leave and find some time to work on your people's skills. A shocking and embarrassing experience. Managers should be apologising to all visitors for this disaster of customer service. Passengers deserve a lot better. What a shame!
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitFebruary 2022
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages N/A
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no