INSOLVENT Bulgarian flag carrier Balkan Airlines this week awaited the arrival of two leased Boeing 737-300s from Germany.
The first aircraft was expected to arrive in Sofia today and the second is expected three days later.
The two national carriers receivers, Olga Milenkova and Hristo Mollov, last month signed the contract with Lufthansa for a 10-month operational lease of the two aircraft. The lease contract was financed with proceeds from Balkans recent $5.32 million deal in which the company swopped 10 take-off and landing slots at Londons Heathrow Airport for the same number of slots at Gatwick Airport.
Monthly lease instalments were reduced to $155,000 monthly per each aircraft, said airline spokesman Viktor Melamed.
The aircraft are in very good condition and are equipped with state-of-the-art seating and kitchenettes. Even though they are respectively 13 and 14 years old they have more hours left to fly, Melamed said.
Sources in Balkans administration, who chose not to be disclosed, said Balkan was paying Lufthansa $205,000 a month for each aircraft.
This sum includes the necessary $50,000 maintenance reserve and also a fee for advertising and training of the pilots and cabin crew. In total the deal is costing $1.6 million.
Monitor weekly reported on Monday that Balkans chief accountant Bistra Marinkova resigned because of the deal with Lufthansa.
Marinkova was not available for comment.
Meanwhile, Minister of Tran-sport Plamen Petrov dismissed the chairman of the Creditors Union of the airline, Plamen Nakev, from his post last week.
At present Balkan Airlines has only one aircraft available, a Tupolev TU 154, which is stored in a hangar.
The aircraft of the company which is on lease now from Slovak Airlines will service regular European destinations, Milenkova said.
Sources within the company said the charter programme for the summer had been sold to other regional air companies because of Balkans lack of aircraft.
Planes from BAC, Hemus Air and Balkan Holidays are being used for daily flights, but they will not be enough to cover all the 270 charter flights from Germany, Belgium, Czech Republic, Russia, Scandinavia, Austria and Israel to Bulgaria this summer.
The first aircraft was expected to arrive in Sofia today and the second is expected three days later.
The two national carriers receivers, Olga Milenkova and Hristo Mollov, last month signed the contract with Lufthansa for a 10-month operational lease of the two aircraft. The lease contract was financed with proceeds from Balkans recent $5.32 million deal in which the company swopped 10 take-off and landing slots at Londons Heathrow Airport for the same number of slots at Gatwick Airport.
Monthly lease instalments were reduced to $155,000 monthly per each aircraft, said airline spokesman Viktor Melamed.
The aircraft are in very good condition and are equipped with state-of-the-art seating and kitchenettes. Even though they are respectively 13 and 14 years old they have more hours left to fly, Melamed said.
Sources in Balkans administration, who chose not to be disclosed, said Balkan was paying Lufthansa $205,000 a month for each aircraft.
This sum includes the necessary $50,000 maintenance reserve and also a fee for advertising and training of the pilots and cabin crew. In total the deal is costing $1.6 million.
Monitor weekly reported on Monday that Balkans chief accountant Bistra Marinkova resigned because of the deal with Lufthansa.
Marinkova was not available for comment.
Meanwhile, Minister of Tran-sport Plamen Petrov dismissed the chairman of the Creditors Union of the airline, Plamen Nakev, from his post last week.
At present Balkan Airlines has only one aircraft available, a Tupolev TU 154, which is stored in a hangar.
The aircraft of the company which is on lease now from Slovak Airlines will service regular European destinations, Milenkova said.
Sources within the company said the charter programme for the summer had been sold to other regional air companies because of Balkans lack of aircraft.
Planes from BAC, Hemus Air and Balkan Holidays are being used for daily flights, but they will not be enough to cover all the 270 charter flights from Germany, Belgium, Czech Republic, Russia, Scandinavia, Austria and Israel to Bulgaria this summer.
