Saga of Stranded Foreigners in Bulgaria Nears Denouement

Friday and Saturday Bulgaria Air cancelled 4 flights booked by Alma Tour for St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Helsinki, due to what it claims is a EUR 3.5 M debt on the part of the tour operator. File photo

Airline Bulgaria Air and tour operator Alma Tour are very likely to reach an agreement in the short term that would allow hundreds of stranded international tourists to return to their homes, reports say.

Friday and Saturday Bulgaria Air cancelled 4 flights booked by Alma Tour for St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Helsinki, due to what it claims is a EUR 3.5 M debt on the part of the tour operator.

Bulgarian Minister of Transport Ivailo Moskovski and vice-minister in charge of tourism Ivo Marinov, as well as a Russian government official have been sent to Burgas Airport on the Bulgarian Black Sea to help broker a deal.

Some 180 Russian tourists have already taken off Saturday afternoon in a flight for Moscow, that was nevertheless paid by a Russian tourist agency, and not by the Bulgarian firms involved in the dispute. Another 80 boarded the government plane, dispatched in emergency by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.

Around 300 more people headed for Russia have been stranded in Burgas, in addition to the some 180 who wanted to return to Finland.

The government officials are staying in Burgas to press the two companies to find a resolution to the situation.

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