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BH Air

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Not to be confused with B&H Airlines.
BH Air
IATA ICAO Call sign
8H BGH BALKAN HOLIDAYS
Founded2001
Commenced operationsJanuary 2002
Hubs
Fleet size3[1]
Destinations20
HeadquartersSofia, Bulgaria
Key peopleLuchezar Lazarov, CEO
RevenueIncrease €67.9 million (2017)[2]
Net incomeDecrease -€9.5 million (2017)[2]
Websitewww.bhairlines.com

BH Air Ltd. (Bulgarian: Би Ейч Еър) is a Bulgarian registered airline based in Sofia.[3] Part owned by Balkan Holidays Services based in Sofia, not Balkan Holidays Ltd, the Tour Operator based in London. BH Air provides charter flights to tour operators in the UK, Scandinavia, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and other European countries, as well as ad hoc charters to other destinations. Also, flights to Africa, Asia, and the Middle East are operated for groups traveling in connection with cultural and sports events and on business.[4] The airline's main base is Sofia, with secondary ones at Burgas, Varna and Plovdiv.[5]

History

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BH Air was founded in 2001 and began operations in January 2002 with charter flights to Sofia, Plovdiv, Burgas and Varna under contract from the UK tour operator "Balkan Holidays Ltd" (No Connection with BH Air). The airline began to fly with a single Tupolev Tu-154M, and the number of aircraft increased to four a few months later. In the summer of 2003 its first Airbus was put into operation. Later, the airline leased three more Airbus A320s, and the fleet increased to eight aircraft - four Tu-154Ms and four A320s. In 2004 the airline begin to perform charter flights for Balkan Holidays, Kuoni, TUI and a large number of smaller tour operators. For 2004 BH Air transported around 400,000 passengers to and from Bulgaria.

In 2005, BH Air signed a two-year contract for a wet lease with Virgin Group. This led to the creation of a new airline in Nigeria - Virgin Nigeria. BH Air aircraft also operated for Air Arabia and Pacific Airlines. In 2006, the airline retired its Tu-154s. In 2007, after the work with Virgin Group and gaining experience, BH Air participated in the creation of a new airline in Sri Lanka - Mihin Lanka. The company also operated private business flights with one Gulfstream G550 and one Gulfstream G200. The aircraft are operated mainly for First Investment Bank as private jets.[citation needed] On 17 January 2013 the company was granted an exemption from the United States of America Department of Transportation (DoT) for flights to USA specifically to New York City (JFK) and Chicago (ORD) as the company requested in its application to DoT in November 2012.[6]

In July 2014, the airline took delivery of its first Airbus A330-223 (LZ-AWA). The aircraft are used for direct long-haul flights from Sofia to cities in the United States.[7] BH Air also uses the aircraft on busy routes during the summer months to the United Kingdom and other European destinations. As of 2015, BH Air has over 250 employees, of which more than 40 are pilots and 100 are cabin crew.[4] In March 2015 they formed a strategic alliance with SkyGreece Airlines.[8] The aim of this strategic alliance is to strengthen their role in the Balkans. As part of this partnership, BH Air began operating flights between Athens and New York-JFK on behalf of SkyGreece Airlines on 30 June 2015. However, only a month after inaugurating the route, SkyGreece announced it would be suspending services to New York on 1 September 2015.

Destinations

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BH Air operated charter flights from the UK during Winter seasons to Sofia Airport (contract finished in April 2015) but to date continues with the Summer seasons to Burgas Airport and Varna Airport. In August 2015 the company flew from Athens Airport to New York City on behalf of SkyGreece Airlines. It was planned but never started, that the company would start flying to Chicago as well.[9] They also had plans also to start regular flights to Kuala Lumpur and Kolkata after they were chosen by the Bulgarian government to operate the two routes.[10][11]

Fleet

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BH Air Airbus A320-200
A former BH Air Airbus A330-200

Current fleet

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As of October 2022, BH Air operates the following aircraft:[12]

BH Air Fleet
Aircraft Total Orders Passengers Notes
C Y Total
Airbus A320-200 3 — — 180 180
Total 3 —

Historical fleet

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BH Air also used to operate the following aircraft which have meanwhile been phased out:

The company also used to operate private business flights with one Gulfstream G200[14] under the brand BH VIP.

References

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  1. ^ "BH Air - Balkan Holidays Fleet | Airfleets aviation". Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Най-големите транспортни компании: Нови бариери от ЕС при камионите, бум при летища и пристанища". www.capital.bg. Retrieved Jan 30, 2020.
  3. ^ "BH air". BH Air. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  4. ^ a b "BHAirlines". www.bhairlines.com. Retrieved Jan 30, 2020.
  5. ^ Flight International 27 March 2007
  6. ^ "Regulations.gov". www.regulations.gov. Retrieved Jan 30, 2020.
  7. ^ "Bulgaria's BH Air to take over Jordan Aviation's A330". ch-aviation. Retrieved Jan 30, 2020.
  8. ^ "SkyGreece Airlines, Bulgaria's BH Air form strategic alliance". seenews.com. Retrieved Jan 30, 2020.
  9. ^ АЕРО, Списание. "Презокеанските амбиции на BH Air". Аеропрес. Archived from the original on October 28, 2014. Retrieved Jan 30, 2020.
  10. ^ "Български авиопревозвач ще лети от София до Куала Лумпур - Economy.bg". www.economy.bg. Retrieved Jan 30, 2020.
  11. ^ "BH air to fly to KL". Archived from the original on 2015-02-11.
  12. ^ Balkan Holidays Air (BH Air) Fleet Details and History planespotters.net, accessdate 30 October 2022
  13. ^ "Bulgaria's BH Air provisionally ends A330 operations". ch-aviation. Retrieved Jan 30, 2020.
  14. ^ "LZ-FIB Balkan Holidays Air (BH Air) Gulfstream Aerospace G200". Planespotters.net. February 2011. Retrieved Jan 30, 2020.
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