Bulgarian MiG-29s Escort Lufthansa Airbus A380 Arriving In Sofia For The First Time

Bulgarian Air Force Fulcrums greeted the very first visit of an Airbus A380 to Sofia.

On Oct. 16, a Lufthansa Airbus A380 landed for the very first time in Sofia.

Piloted by the only Bulgarian A380 Lufthansa pilot, Senior First Officer Mario Bakalov, the largest passenger aircraft of the world took off from Frankfurt as a special flight carrying a delegation of politicians, customers and media to the Bulgarian capital to introduce the Lufthansa A380 to customers and the general public in the country and to promote long-haul flights to the U.S. and Asia.

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Noteworthy, during its flight across the Bulgarian airspace the Airbus A380 was met by three Bulgarian Air Force MiG-29s (including a two-seater photo-ship). In this post you can find some stunning images taken by the BAF while escorting the giant two-deck airliner inbound to Sofia.

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Here’s a short clip showing the three MiG-29s as seen from inside the A380.

Image credit: Bulgarian Air Force / Ognyan Stefanov

About David Cenciotti
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.