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Sofia Airport (SOF): flight delays and compensation

Sofia Airport. As an EU airport, every flight departing from here is covered by EU Regulation 261/2004. Here is what to expect if your flight was delayed or cancelled here, or you were stranded.

By the EU261 Flight Delay editorial team Last reviewed: Reading time: 6 min How we write our guides

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In short: Any flight departing from Sofia Airport that arrives 3 or more hours late, is cancelled less than 14 days before departure, or is overbooked can give €250–600 per passenger. Departures: EU261 with any airline.

Live at Sofia (SOF) today

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About the airport

Sofia Airport (SOF) serves Sofia, Bulgaria. On the routes Eurostat reports, 6,934,150 passengers flew to or from it in 2024, the 70th-highest among the 397 European airports we cover. Its busiest connections were to Vienna, Frankfurt, London, Milan.

Every flight departing from here is covered by EU Regulation 261/2004, whatever the airline. Flights arriving here are covered if they depart from the EU, or if an EU airline operates them from outside the EU.

Busiest routes from Sofia – and what a delay is worth

The 30 busiest routes on Eurostat’s 2024 data, with the compensation for a 3-hour-plus delay or a late cancellation in each direction.

DestinationPassengers 2024DistanceFrom SOFReturn
Vienna VIE413,741804 km€250€250
Frankfurt FRA353,3351,398 km€250€250
London STN328,8382,012 km€400£350
Milan BGY306,3551,140 km€250€250
London LTN295,8942,050 km€400£350
Munich MUC277,2441,101 km€250€250
Istanbul IST275,860467 km€250€250*
Barcelona BCN223,7321,766 km€400€400
Varna VAR220,511363 km€250€250
Eindhoven EIN210,3851,670 km€400€400
Madrid MAD204,0822,248 km€400€400
Brussels CRL178,2571,680 km€400€400
Athens ATH165,898531 km€250€250
Memmingen FMM150,3261,184 km€250€250
Bari BRI145,711577 km€250€250
Rome FCO136,451924 km€250€250
Rome CIA135,769896 km€250€250
Copenhagen CPH132,7631,632 km€400€400
Berlin BER131,0791,305 km€250€250
Dortmund DTM128,8411,541 km€400€400
London LHR125,7172,041 km€400£350
Catania CTA111,792917 km€250€250
Warsaw WAW110,8301,069 km€250€250
Antalya AYT108,971901 km€250€250*
Bologna BLQ98,649997 km€250€250
Valencia VLC96,9112,027 km€400€400
Paris BVA90,3931,799 km€400€400
Cologne CGN88,8901,531 km€400€400
Naples NAP88,545783 km€250€250
Alicante ALC87,4192,078 km€400€400

* only with an EU (or UK) airline. Passengers: Eurostat, both directions, routes reported by EU/EEA airports.

Air traffic flow delays at Sofia (2025)

EUROCONTROL records the delay imposed on arriving flights when the airport or the airspace around it cannot take more traffic (air traffic flow management, “ATFM”). In 2025, 33,542 flights arrived at SOF; 7 of them were held back this way, 5 by more than 15 minutes – an average of 0.01 minutes per arrival.

What caused the ATFM delay

  • aerodrome capacity100%

Average ATFM delay per arrival by month (min)

  1. J
  2. F
  3. M
  4. A
  5. M
  6. J
  7. J
  8. A
  9. S
  10. O
  11. N
  12. D

Worst days: 2 January 2025 – 230 minutes, mostly aerodrome capacity; 3 January 2025 – 24 minutes, mostly aerodrome capacity.

2026 so far (to 30 September 2026): 26,396 arrivals, 0.00 minutes of ATFM delay per arrival (better than 2025), mainly aerodrome capacity (52%) and other (48%).

Check what happened at SOF on your travel day →

What this means for a claim: ATFM delays come from weather (0% here), air traffic control capacity and staffing (0%) or airport limits – causes airlines often cite as extraordinary circumstances. They are only part of the story: most long delays come from the airline’s own operation (technical faults, crew, late inbound aircraft), which this data does not show. Source: EUROCONTROL.

Typical delay causes at Sofia Airport

  • EUROCONTROL recorded 33,542 arrivals at SOF in 2025; 7 were held by air traffic flow restrictions, 5 of them by more than 15 minutes.
  • The largest single cause of this flow delay was aerodrome capacity (100%).
  • The worst day was 2 January 2025, with 230 minutes of flow delay, mostly aerodrome capacity.
  • Most long delays that earn compensation are not flow delays but airline problems – technical faults, crew shortages and late inbound aircraft – which do not count as extraordinary circumstances.

Airlines you are likely to fly with here

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    What happened?Step 1 of 4

    What happened to your flight?
    Where did you fly from and to?

    With a connection, enter your first departure and your final destination – compensation is based on the total distance.

    How late did you arrive at your final destination?

    What counts is when the aircraft doors opened at your destination – not the departure delay.

    When were you told about the cancellation?
    When did you arrive on the replacement flight?
    Which airline operated the flight?
    When was the flight?

    How many passengers were on the booking?

    1 passenger

    Every passenger gets their own compensation, children too. Infants under 2 without their own seat do not count.

    • Free, no sign-up
    • Fee only if successful (35%)
    • AirHelp: Trustpilot 4.5/5

    Rather skip the questions? Start a claim with AirHelp straight away

    Local information

    • Ask the airline staff at the gate for the reason for the delay or cancellation and write it down; take a photo of the departure board.
    • From 2 hours’ delay (depending on distance) the airline must give you meals and drinks, and a hotel if you are stuck overnight – keep the receipts if you had to pay yourself.
    • If the airline rejects your claim, complain to the national enforcement body of the country where the flight departed (or arrived, for flights from outside the EU), or go to court.

    Frequently asked questions

    Can I claim compensation for a flight departing from Sofia Airport?

    Yes. SOF is an EU airport, so every flight departing from it is covered by EU Regulation 261/2004, whatever the airline and wherever it is based.

    Can I claim compensation for a flight arriving at Sofia Airport?

    If the flight departed from an EU airport: yes, with any airline. If it departed from the UK: yes, under UK261, with any airline. If it departed from elsewhere: only if an EU airline operated it.

    How is the length of the delay measured?

    By your arrival time at your final destination – more precisely, the moment the aircraft door opens at the gate. It must be at least 3 hours after the scheduled arrival time.

    Related guides

    Information only, not legal advice. Passenger figures are approximate and based on the airports' published statistics; punctuality figures are from the UK Civil Aviation Authority. We earn a commission when a claim submitted through our partner links is successful.

    Sources

    1. Eurostat – air passenger transport routes between partner airports and main airports (2024) – Eurostat
    2. EUROCONTROL – airport arrival ATFM delays (open performance data) – EUROCONTROL

    We check every rule against the sources above. Spotted an error? Tell us – see our editorial policy.