One of the highlights of my trip to Romania and Bulgaria was the chance to give Bulgaria Airlines a try, particularly on its brand new Airbus A220 jet in business class. Not only was the flight superb, but I ended up with the entire cabin to myself!
Bulgaria Airlines A220 Business Class: I Had The Entire Cabin To Myself
Bulgaria Airlines is the flag carrier of Bulgaria based in Sofia (SOF). It was established in 2002 and serves 29 destinations with a fleet of Airbus A220, A319, A320, and Embraer E190 jets. While I did not build my trip around this flight, I opted to connect back to the USA via Amsterdam instead of London so that I could fly the Bulgaria Airlines A220-300.
Unlike most European carriers, Bulgaria Airlines offers a different seat in business class than in economy class. The larger recliner-style seat is arranged in a 2-2 configuration compared to 3-2 in economy class. The seat featured excellent recline, a footrest, both USB-A and USB-C plugs, and a universal outlet.
Several passengers tried to poach the open seats during boarding, but they were promptly marched out and by the time the boarding door closed, I found I was the only passenger in business class!
Sometimes when you are the only premium passenger things can be awkward, but that was not the case on this flight. The crew was excellent…and all younger than me! They were very attentive in terms of checking in on me throughout the flight and encouraged me to use the flight attendant call button if I needed anything.
Breakfast was served after takeoff and although the presentation felt a bit more like economy class, the food was delicious…especially the hot main course, called Banitsa, which was particularly superb. I also loved the fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, and feta. An excellent breakfast!
Before landing, I was offered chocolate.
As an aside, economy class passengers were offered a water bottle, hearty sandwich, and chocolate as well. Bulgaria Airlines is a full-service carrier.
I was so impresed by the flight attendants and the product overall that I asked to take a picture with them when we landed, and they happily obliged.
CONCLUSION
It’s certainly not a carrier on most radars, but I had a very pleasant experience on the brand-new A220-300 on Bulgaira Airlines in business class. It’s always special to be the only buiness class passenger onboard!
I’ll share more details about the flight, onboard amenities, lounge experience, and booking details in my full review.
@ Matthew — It seems a bit crazy for Bulgaria to have its own airline. I wonder how much money they lose every year?
That I cannot answer, but the route network is decent (though flights are not daily).
When I was looking at SOF-LON I was shocked that Ryanair was only $14…(Bulgaria Airlines and BA were about $100). Hard to make money like that!
@ Matthew — That’s insanely cheap. It would be nice if they would join Star Alliance AND keep fraes that low!
BA business class to London was $280 while Bulgaria Airlines was nearly double the price.
$14 for SFO-LON? Yes please!
Just a guess: SFO (San Francisco) = SOF (Sofia, Bulgaria)
Interesting comments, nonetheless.
Yes
What an excellent report. I’ll share with my wife as she last tried Bulgaria Air about 10 years ago and swore off them after a harrowing landing at the end of MAD-SOF, madly plunging down from over the mountains.
My last bite at their service was 2001. We were flying BUD-SOF. After we were boarded, it was announced that we had to divert to pick up some passengers in BER, then go to SOF. A 75 minute flight took over 4 hours. If we had been told before boarding we could have changed flights.
Funny about everyone trying to take the seats up front. I see the same on LH and OS flights all the time.
So, hopefully with the new planes and all they have a new operational mindset.
Looks like one of the better intra-Europe business-class products. Did they have wine? If so, do you remember what was offered?
They had Bulgarian wines. No menus unfortunately and it was a 7:00 am departure so I wasn’t drinking.
You need to start taking ones for the team. At least ask to see the wine for tasting. It’s bad form not to do so.
I had a chardonnay from Bulgaria in a restaurant not from the Park Hyatt in Washington, D.C. It was quite good and very reasonable in terms of price by the bottle. I also had a pinot noir from Bulgaria. The embassy served it at a reception. It was also quite good if I remember right.
I imagine wine from Bulgaria is a lot like wine from Romania, Moldova, Georgia, etc. They have a rich tradition that has only recently been revived after producing cheap jug wine during the Soviet era. This is probably where EU regulations help, at least for ex-Soviet countries-turned-EU members. The strict regulations make it difficult to produce and sell crap wine. It’s like champagne from France. It’s almost impossible to make a bad champagne because the regulations are so strict.
Looks very nice!
That seat appears to be the exact same seat that Breeze Airways has as its Ascent/Nicest seat on the 220s. I find it quite comfortable (though the legrest doesn’t do a lot for me since there isn’t really enough space to fully utilize it, but nice to give some calf support)
For cheaper business class ticket ask for upgrade of your economy ticket via email callfb@air.bg 24 hours before the flight at a flat rate 150 euros for all international routes. This is a bargain. Almost in all their planes they have a proper business class seats and if you can afford it it is a always a good experience.
This is exactly what I did! 😉
It’s a good tip – saved me hundreds of EUR!
I’ll outline this in my full review.
For short haul flight, your business class food looks delicious, and the portion is generous.
Sadly Bulgaria Air is owned by some shady people…