Bulgaria’s GullivAir targets US flights

Bulgarian start-up GullivAir (Sofia) has unveiled plans to operate three weekly scheduled return flights between Sofia and New York JFK. The privately-owned carrier has applied for a US Foreign Air Carrier permit for scheduled and chartered, passenger, property, and mail cargo flights and for exemption authority to enable it to provide the services while its application is pending. The airline currently dry-leases one A330-200, LZ-ONE (msn 811), from Aircastle for combination passenger and cargo flights. It is in the process of dry-leasing two more A330s that are expected to be added to its AOC in a few months, Chief Executive Officer Georgi Kolev said in the application to the US Department of Transportation dated September 29, 2020. According to supporting documents, GulliVair obtained a Bulgarian AOC (BG 56) on July 24, 2020. It was granted a Category A operator’s license (BG 1008-23) by the Bulgarian Civil Aviation Administration on October 12, 2016, last amended on September 25, 2020, allowing it to operate aircraft with more than 20 seats and/or carry more than 10 tonnes. “After a long and exhausting dogfight with the authorities, finally we are fully operational,” the airline said in a Facebook post on September 25, 2020. The airline did not immediately respond to questions from ch-aviation and its website remains under construction.