My three-hour flight from Sofia to Amsterdam on Bulgaria Air was a very pleasant surprise, with the brand new A220-300 aircraft providing an excellent business class experience for a flight within Europe.
Bulgaria Air A220-300 Business Class Review
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.
I purchased an economy class ticket for $200.40. Bulgaria Air has an upgrade program in which you can upgrade at a discounted rate within 24 hours of departure. Domestic upgrades are 80EUR while international upgrades are 150EUR. About 23 hours before departure, I emailed Bulgair Air (callFB@air.bg) and within 14 minutes I had received a response, including a secure payment link. Just 10 minutes later my ticket was reissued and I was able to check-in for the flight.
As a point of comparison, a paid business class ticket was $642.70.
With a 7:00 AM departure, I arrived at the airport around 5:00 am so that I could review the Aspire Lounge and be among the first to board my flight. I used the TaxiMe app to reach the airport.
Interestingly, Bulgaria Air does not appear to have its own ground staff despite being its hub of operations. Instead, it uses Swissport staff.
Security lines were long and moved slowly, but I eventually worked my way through and visited the Aspire Lounge on the lower level.
> Read More: Aspire Lounge Sofia Review (SOF)
I lined up to board about 45 minutes before departure, but boarding did not commence until about 20 minutes before departure.
Bulgaria Air 461
Sofia (SOF) – Amsterdam (AMS)
Friday, February 23
Depart: 07:00 AM
Arrive: 09:15 AM
Duration: 03hr, 00min
Distance: 1,091 miles
Aircraft: Airbus A220-300
Seat: 2A (Business Class)
There is not a lot of information online about Bulgaria Air, but I was very pleased to find large business class seats onboard. During boarding, every passenger was offered a Bulgaria Air-branded bottle of water.
Seat
Unlike most European carriers, Bulgaria Air 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 (38 inches), a footrest, both USB-A and USB-C plugs, and a universal outlet.
Seat recline and the legrest is controlled by buttons on the armrest.
Between seats was a small tray that plopped down, like on American Airlines, and could accommodate drinks.
The tray table comes up from the side armrest and includes a stand for your mobile phone or tablet.
There’s also a stand for your mobile phone in front of the literature pocket on te upper half of the seatback.
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!
During the flight, a packaged pillow and blanket was offered. The fleece-style blanket was quite comfortable on a cold morning.
There are individual air vents located in the passenger service unit above your head.
Service
I experienced excellent service on this flight from the very start, with a warm welcome onboard followed by attentive service during the flight. I’ve never seen such a young crew: the three flight attendants were all in their 20s. Service was gracious and with a smile: I was proactively offered multiple beverage refills over the three-hour journey, which is a big way I distinguish great service from poor or merely adequate service.
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.
Food + Drink
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 flaky and savory. I also loved the fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, and feta. An excellent breakfast!
The metal cutlery was Bulgaria Air branded.
After breakfast, I was offered cake with coffee or tea (I moved to tea).
Beverages were free flowing, but in plastic cups.
Before landing, I was offered chocolate.
Not bad for a three-hour flight!
Lavatory
This aircraft has standard Airbus A220 lavatories: one in the front, and two in the rear. The lavatory was clean.
IFE + Wi-Fi
There’s not much in terms of IFE, which is a missed opportunity. No wi-fi internet or streaming entertainment. There was an in-flight magazine and a copy of Bloomberg (in Bulgarian):
..and great views out the window:
Takeoff video:
CONCLUSION
It’s certainly not a carrier on most radars, but I had a very pleasant experience on the brand-new A220-300 on Bulgaria Air in business class. It’s always special to be the only buiness class passenger onboard! I’d fly Bulgair Air again in a heartbeat.
