Bulgaria Air AD (Bulgaria)

Bulgaria Air, incorporated in November 2002, is an international airline operator with its home base at Sofia Airport. It succeeded some of the assets of the country's flag carrier Balkan Airlines, which was declared bankrupt at the end of 2002 after a nearly two-year struggle to cover outstanding debt totalling around USD 100 million. Bulgaria Air has three core activities: passenger transport, cargo transport and aircraft maintenance. The carrier flies to 28 destinations with a fleet of 8 Boeing, 6 Airbus, and 4 Bae aircrafts.
In June 2006, Bulgaria's Privatisation Agency called a tender for the sale of 99.99% of Bulgaria Air. In October 2006, Bulgarian privately held airline Hemus Air placed the highest bid of EUR 6.6 million for the stake and also pledged to invest EUR 82.1 million over the next five years in the airline. The only other bidder, Italy's airline Air One, offered to pay EUR 5.3 million for the stake and invest EUR 11.6 million in Bulgaria Air over a five-year period. In January 2007, Balkan Hemus Group - the owner of Hemus Air - signed a deal to buy Bulgaria Air for EUR 6.7 million and invest EUR 82.1 million in it over the next five years. In May, Balkan Hemus Group, part of industrial conglomerate Chimimport, was renamed into Bulgarian Aviation Group.
In August 2010, the local flag carrier and LSG Sky Chefs, part of Germany's Lufthansa, signed a contract to set up a catering company, Silver Wings.