Balkan Bulgarian Airlines

Bulgaria had a short-lived airline (Bunavad) in 1927, yet the country could not afford investing in modern air transport until after World War II. In 1946, the Ministry of Transport and Communications formed an Administration of Air Communications (Bulgarian: Дирекция на въздушните съобщения (ДВС), Direkcia na vazdushnite saobshtenia (DVS)). Since Bulgaria was regarded as a combatant on the defeated Axis side, the DVS could only contract with France for the supply of several Atelier d'Avions Coulombe Toucan aircraft (French-built versions of the Junkers Ju 52). In interpretation of their delivery, Bulgarian airmen practised by flying the nation's first long-distance flights: to Paris, transporting government officials to peace negotiations, being conducted there. These flights used German-built Ju 52 aircraft (Bulgarian service designation Сова or Sova, = Owl), delivered before the war to the На Негово Величество Въздушни войски [НВВВ] or His majesty's Air Force, and captured during the war from retreating German forces.

DVS officially launched services under the Bulgarian Air Lines (Bulgarian: Български въздушни линии, Balgarski vazdushni linii) name on 29 June 1947 with a Ju 52 flight from Sofia via Plovdiv to Burgas. Other services soon followed. By the close of the year, the DVS had ordered several Soviet-built Lisunov Li-2 variants of the Douglas DC-3 and at least 13 were operated until 1968.[3] The Soviet forces stationed in Bulgaria took interest in DVS, and by late 1947, had taken DVS into joint ownership, as had been done with all airlines of East-European countries formerly allied with Nazi Germany. The resulting airline was called TABSO (Bulgarian: ТАБСО), an acronym for "Transportno-aviacionno balgaro-savetsko obedinenie" (Bulgarian: Транспортно-авиационно българо-съветско обединение, Bulgarian-Soviet Transport Aviation Corporation). The Ju 52s gradually phased out from service as TABSO re-equipped with Li-2s. These more modern planes allowed the airline to expand services.

TABSO Lisunov Li-2 at Gorna Oryahovitsa Airport. (1956)

TABSO VEB-14P at Vienna. (1962)

A Bulgarian Air Transport Ilyushin Il-18 at Ringway Airport in 1968

Ilyushin Il-18 of Bulair at London Gatwick Airport in 1969

Soviet equity in TABSO was reacquired by the Bulgarian government in 1954.[4]^: 788 The airline with this brand name survived until the end of 1967, often in the shadow of the headline phrase Bulgarian Air Transport. In 1956, TABSO bought its first Ilyushin Il-14 aircraft. These aircraft, along with Li-2s,[5] were deployed on services to seven domestic destinations, including Burgas, Gorna Oryahovitsa,[6] Ruschuk, Plovdiv,[7] Sofia, Stara Zagora[8] and Varna; and international destinations Amsterdam, Athens, Beirut, Belgrade, Berlin, Bucharest, Budapest, Damascus, Frankfurt, Kiev, Moscow, Odessa, Prague, Vienna and Warsaw.[4]^: 788

In 1962, it began services with the Ilyushin Il-18; these and the expansion of Bulgaria's inclusive-tour tourism industry began to put the airline's name on the European and world map. The turboprop type crossed the Equator to Kenya and the Atlantic to Peru. By 1967, Antonov An-24s had arrived for domestic and regional flights. By the mid-1960s, tourism was a major hard currency earner for Bulgaria and TABSO faced home-grown competition. Executives of the Teksim trading company had decided to start their own aviation business which included crop-spraying and inclusive-tour charter airline operations under the name of Булер (Bulair). Despite trying to buy Sud Aviation Caravelle jet airliners, Bulair ended up buying more Il-18s turboprops under heavy Soviet and Bulgarian political pressure. These were operated to several Western European countries to bring holiday makers to Bulgarian resorts.

The Teksim venture proved a success and a thorn in the side of TABSO. By 1967, TABSO had the inside track in government circles, and the Teksim operation was largely disbanded by 1970. Amid rumours of scandal and embezzling several Teksim directors were sent to jail, accused of performing capitalism-ruled economic behaviour. Their venture had operated under the TABSO banner for reasons of expediency (not least international rights). The last Bulair-branded aircraft had been rebranded as TABSO machines by 1972.

The carrier bought three Tupolev Tu-134 jets in late 1967.[9] On 1 January 1968, TABSO was rebranded Balkan Bulgarian Airlines (Bulgarian: Балкан – Български въздушни линии, Balkan – Bulgarski vazdushni linii).[10] The wider commercial aviation scene was put under Balkan's control via subsidiaries such as the aforementioned Bulair, Селскостопанска авиация [ССА] or Selskostopanska aviacia [SSA] (the Agricultural Aviation Company) and a separate profit centre which performed ad hoc aviation contracting, mostly with helicopters.

The first Tu-134 was put into service in November 1968 (1968-11), initially flying scheduled services between Sofia and London.[11] The airline became the first foreign customer of the type,[12]^: 31 leading to a close association with the Tupolev design bureau that lasted two decades. There were several reasons why Bulgaria was allowed to put a new Soviet type into service ahead of more important Soviet-bloc nations. Andrei Tupolev was President of the Soviet-Bulgarian Society. He had cemented personal links with his Bulgarian counterpart, formidable wartime Resistance figure and Politburo member Tsola Dragoycheva. She lobbied him for delivery preferences in return for campaigning before the Bulgarian authorities to buy his products rather than Western or other Soviet aircraft types. Indeed, Balkan never bought the Ilyushin Il-62 long-range airliner, preferring to misuse its Tu-154s for long-range work. Similarly, it eschewed Ilyushin's Il-86 wide-body despite arguably having the precise role for it on its sea or ski charter flights.

At March 1970 (1970-03), Balkan served 22 countries in Africa, Asia and Europe plus nine domestic destinations. At this time, the fleet included Antonov An-2s, An-10s and An-24Bs, Ilyushin Il-14s and Il-18s, Tupolev Tu-134s, Z-37 Cmelaks and Mil helicopters. Lazar Beloukhov was the general manager.[13] On 18 January 1971, an Ilyushin Il-18 crashed and caught fire while attempting to land at Kloten Airport in fog; only two people survived the crash.[14] During 1971, Balkan was the first airline beyond the USSR borders to operate the Tupolev Tu-134A.[12]^: 31 On 21 December, the crash of another Il-18 during takeoff left 28 fatalities.[15]

LZ-TUA was the first Tupolev Tu-134 received by the airline.[11] The aircraft is seen here at Orly Airport in 1979.

Again in 1972, this time with the Tupolev Tu-154, the carrier became the first foreign customer to incorporate a new Tupolev aircraft into its fleet.[12]^: 31 The latter type was deployed first on charter flights, and later on scheduled services.[16] By November the same year, Balkan had two of these aircraft in service.[17]^: 708 It also launched non-Soviet use of the Tu-154A, Tu-154B, Tu-154B-2 and Tu-154M. Balkan was a useful test-bed for new ideas by the Tupolev bureau. The airline pioneered the use of three-person flightdeck crews on the Tu-154 by removing navigators (flight crew members whom the designers had intentionally inserted into the Tu-134 and Tu-154) between 1972 and 1976. Balkan also removed the Tu-154's concrete ballast trim on which conservative Tupolev engineers had insisted. In the mid-1980s, a team of Bulgarian engineers interlinked the automatic flight control systems of the airline's Tu-154s with OMEGA Navigation System receivers, enabling very accurate automatic long-range overwater navigation. In the 1990s, Balkan was among the first to fit GPS navigation to its Tu-154 fleet. A Tu-154B was flown non-stop from Montreal to Sofia, a distance of over 7,000 km (4,300 mi) and a record for the type, during a charter flight.

As the Soviet-bloc economies gradually entered into stagnation in the 1970s, Balkan continued growing apace.[18] In 1974, the airline's route network was 74,500 miles (119,900 km) long.[19] By the mid/late 1970s, it was carrying three million passengers a year, more than any Soviet-bloc airline other than some Directorates of Aeroflot. The fleet comprised aforementioned types plus Antonov An-12s for cargo (since late 1969) and Yakovlev Yak-40 regional jets for short-haul routes (since 1974). The comprehensive route system covered Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. With the delivery of more Tu-154s, Balkan opened longer-range routes, including ones to Zimbabwe, Angola and Nigeria in sub-Equatorial Africa, and to Sri Lanka and Vietnam in Southern Asia.

A Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Tupolev Tu-154B2 at London Heathrow Airport in 1981

In 1986, Balkan was restructured as part of a wholesale shakeup of the late Socialist economy in an attempt to make it more productive and manageable. The airline was divorced from functions such as running airports. It had suffered disastrous traffic falls after the Comecon fuel crisis of 1979, when the number of passengers carried collapsed to under a million. By the late 1980s, loads were back up to 1970s levels. Of the three million annual passengers, a third were carried on domestic services, another third on charter flights, and the remaining million on scheduled international routes.

Balkan joined the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in 1988, becoming its 175th member worldwide.[20] On 10 November 1989, Bulgaria's long-ruling leader Todor Zhivkov was removed from power and Bulgaria began moving away from the Soviet bloc. Within a year, Balkan had been restructured yet again, with Hemus Air emerging from within it as a "second force" state-owned airline with mainly domestic and regional flights. Private airlines began to appear, most important among them Singapore-backed Jes Air which launched services to New York and Singapore using Airbus A310s.

A Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Boeing 737-500 on short final to Lisbon Portela Airport in 1992

By mid-1991, Balkan had leased two Boeing 767-200ERs from Air France to compete with failing Jes Air on North American and Southern Asian routes. At the same time Balkan acquired four Airbus A320s from Oryx. The Soviet-build types remained in service alongside the new arrivals.

The 1990s were a time of headlong decline at Balkan. The airline suffered in Bulgaria's transition to a market economy. Former managers of state-owned industry began forming private companies to supply the industries they had once managed (at high prices), and yet other private companies to purchase their production (at low prices). The aim was to control both supply and sales, charging high prices and paying low prices to strangle state companies and then privatise them at very low prices. The entire Bulgarian economy was in deep recession. This was due to severe political instability at home and protracted wars and economic sanctions in neighbouring Yugoslavia.[21] These factors upset potential investment and tourism and cut off Bulgaria from many trading partners.

A Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Airbus A320-200 at Zurich Airport in 1992

In March 1995 (1995-03), Balkan had a fleet of four Airbus A320-200s, three Antonov An-12Fs, fourteen Antonov An-24s, three Boeing 737-500s, two Boeing 767-200ERs, six Ilyushin Il-18s, five Tupolev Tu-134A-3s, fifteen Tupolev Tu-154B-2s and seven Tupolev Tu-154Ms. At this time, the company had 3,889 employees and the route network included 52 destinations.[22] By 1998, Balkan's 767s returned to Air France and the A320s were passed on to other lessees. The Tu-154B fleet was overdue for replacement, and the Tu-154M was aging. Bulgaria's government appeared to pledge some funds for Airbus A310 acquisition so that long-range services could be sustained, but nothing came of this.

Late in 1998, the company was ready to be sold to a holding named Balkan Air, comprising Bulgarian and US investors,[23] but the transaction was later suspended.[24] All through the decade, there had been rumours of investor interest in Balkan. These rumours consistently named Russian and German airline interests which were said to be eager to buy the carrier. There was also lobbying by the airline's managers for a management buyout. Nevertheless, a consortium comprising two Israeli companies —the Zeevi investment group and Knafaim-Arkia (the owner of Arkia Israel Airlines) — was assigned a 75 percent stake in Balkan Bulgarian in mid-1999 for a bargain price of US$150,000, with the commitment of investing US$100 million in the airline over the following ten years.[25][26] Arkia left the consortium once title in the airline was transferred.[27] It was disclosed in 2001 that Balkan had been declared bankrupt months prior to the sale.[28]

Balkan had 3,889 employees at March 2000 (2000-03). At this time, the fleet included three Antonov An-12s; six Antonov An-24Bs and an An-24RV; two Boeing 737-300s and three 737-500s; an Ilyushin Il-18 and an Il-18D; three Let L 410 UVP-Es; and fourteen Tupolev Tu-154Bs and ten Tu-154Ms. These operated services to Abu Dhabi, Accra, Algiers, Amsterdam, Athens, Bahrain, Bangkok, Belgrade, Berlin, Bourgas, Brussels, Budapest, Cairo, Casablanca, Chisinau, Colombo, Copenhagen, Dubai, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Istanbul, Kyiv, Kuwait, Lagos, Larnaca, London, Madrid, Male, Malta, Milan, Moscow, Paris, Prague, Rome, Sofia, Stockholm, Tehran, Tel Aviv, Tripoli, Varna, Vienna, Warsaw and Zürich.[1] The Israeli connection led to difficulties in operating the Arab routes.[29][30] Its assets seemed to be being sold-off in an asset-stripping manner and by early 2001, Balkan's fleet was not even up to the task of meeting the airline's summer charter commitments, despite taking on some used 737-300s.[31] In February 2001 (2001-02), the Zeevi group ceased funding the carrier and initiated legal action against the Bulgarian government over a US$100 million debt.[32][33] Although the company was grounded and entered receivership,[34][35][36] it resumed flying later that year.[37]

Short of cash, in 2002 Balkan's six weekly slots for Heathrow airport were sold to British Airways for US$6 million. In October that year, creditors turned down a restructuring plan[38] and voted for the closure of the airline,[39] which was liquidated.[37] The number of employees at the time of closure was 1,269.[38] Balkan was succeeded as Bulgaria's national carrier by the newly formed Bulgaria Air.[40][41]