Last night, 120 Bulgarians who had been stranded in the Maldives finally returned home aboard a charter flight operated by the Bulgarian airline GullivAir. The flight landed at 03:36 this morning, following arrangements made by a tour operator, and also carried citizens from other countries.

According to Kiril Stamov, manager of the tour operator company, the direct flight, which did not require a refueling stop, carried a total of 326 passengers at full capacity. Among them were approximately 300 Bulgarian citizens and 26 travelers from countries including France, Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia, and North Macedonia. Many passengers had traveled from distant locations such as Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and other island groups in the Maldives, reflecting the extensive coordination required for the return.

Stamov noted that all passengers had paid for the charter flight themselves. While some Bulgarian citizens remain stranded in Sri Lanka and Thailand, additional flights are currently uncertain due to logistical challenges, including the complexity of securing planes for long-distance charters.

The return of the Bulgarian tourists was largely driven by their own initiative and the contacts they established following the outbreak of military conflict in the Middle East, which led to the closure of airports in Dubai and Doha. Their efforts, combined with the tour operator’s coordination, made the repatriation possible amid the ongoing regional tensions.