SOF-Spot1
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December 9, 2019Sofia Airport – Spotting Guide
- last modified on November 29, 2023
Sofia Airport (SOF/LBSF) is the main international airport of Bulgaria, located 10 km (6.2 mi) east of the centre of the capital Sofia. The airport serves as the home base for BH Air, Bulgaria Air, and Bulgarian Air Charter and as a base for both Ryanair and Wizz Air. The Vrazhdebna Air Base of the Bulgarian Air Force is at the airport too.
Bulgaria Air, Wizz Air and Ryanair are the busiest airlines in terms of aircraft movements. Most of the visitors using narrow body aircraft such as Airbus A320/321, Boeing 737 and Embraer. The gem, which attracts a lot of foreign spotters, is the Boeing 757 of DHL and on a non-regular basis flights toLufthansa technik for maintenance. There are visits from time to time of other operators such as DAT, Saudia and Eurowings. Sofia is also the airport which receives a lot of visits of Russian/soviet aircraft like Antonov An-12, An-26, An-124, Ilyushin IL76TD. Some times there are visits of 747 and 777 cargo aircraft. Because of the location of the Vrazhdebna Air Base in SOF it is also possible to capture some military aircraft which are part of 16th Transport Squadron of the Bulgarian Air Force. Most of them are C-27J Spartan, Let L-410 and Antonov AN-26. 1-2 times a year there is an open doors day of the Transport Squadron and you can buy a ticket and see the planes.
Written by Boyko Valchev/Бойко Вълчев (local spotter). Last change: November 2022 (Spot 5 added).
| Rating | |
| Movements |  |
| Airline Variety | |
| Photo Locations | |
| Weather | |
| Airport Information | |
| Runways | |
| 09/27 | 3.600m – Asphalt |
| Terminals | |
| Terminal 1 | Low Cost carriers and charter airlines. |
| Terminal 2 | All other carriers. |
| Airport Chart |  |
| Spotting Information | |
| Ladder | Not recommended to use. You can easily take pictures at every spot without a ladder. |
| Car/Public Transport | There is a public transport available for all the locations. There is a metro station at the terminal which connects the city with the airport. |
| Restrooms | In the terminal. Unfortunately not available for all spotting locations. |
| Drinks/Food | In the terminal and in the metro station near terminal 2. Usable only for location number 1 “Iskar River”. |
| Hotels | The nearest hotel are a Ibis and Best Western Premier Sofia Airport Hotel. Borh are located around 1km away from Terminal 1. Smaller hotels are available in the nearest residential area. |
| Season | The best season to visit SOF is summer. There are a lot of sunshine hours and additional charter flights. Spring and Authum are also good seasons for photos. |
| Security | 99% of the time there is no problem to go for spotting at the airport. In some rare cases the police could ask you for ID card or passport. But there are two rules:
1. It is not recommended to touch the fence. |
| Runway Usage | |
| 09/27 | Used in both directions for arivals and takeoffs. Most often runway 27 is used because of the winds comming from the west. |
 |
Spot #1 – Iskar River – All movements |
|---|---|
| WHERE | The location is next to Iskar river close to the runway 09/27 and taxiway H. Start at Terminal 2 which can easily reached by car or metro. After reaching Terminal 2 walk through the park on the east side until you reach a small river. The location is 10-15 minutes away from the Terminal by foot. You are on an elevated position to clear the fence. |
| WHAT | If runway 27 is in use you can get all departures as they taxi via taxiways H and L. You can also get the 27 arrivals. If runway 09 is in use you can get all departure traffic and also arrivals as the taxi via H to the terminal and almost in all cases vacanting via E. |
| TIME | The light conditions are good from 9AM to 17PM in the summer. In the winter it is good to photograph from 10AM till 15PM. |
| MISC. | Restrooms are inside the terminal. The terminal is about 15 minutes away walk from the location. Sometimes heat haze is a problem when photograph aircrafts landed on runway 27. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | A320 on runway = 180mm; DHL 757 on taxiway = 70mm |
 |
Spot #2 – Iskar River East – All movements |
|---|---|
| WHERE | The location is next to Iskar river close to the runway 09/27 and taxiway H. It is on the east side of the river opposite to the location #1. Start at Krivinski Road next to location #4. From here a small dirt road starts which runs parallel to the fence. Follow the road for about 1,5km until you reach the river where the position is located. In most of the cases any car could go to the place, but if it has been raining recently or in snowy winter 4×4 may be required. In spring, summer or till mid autumn the position could be reached by foot. Just take bust N14 (exit stop Nova Mahala) and walk for about 20 minutes. |
| WHAT | The location is great for photograph aircrafts departing runway 09. Also some arrivals runway 27 could be photographed, but location #3 is far better for this. |
| TIME | The light conditions are good from 9AM to 17PM in the summer. In the winter it is good to photograph from 10AM till 15PM. |
| MISC. | Nothing nearby, take everything you need with you. You could benefit of small two step ladder in order to avoid the fence. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 70-300mm A320 on runway = 180mm |
 |
Spot #3 – Meadow – 27 arrivals
|
|---|---|
| WHERE | This location is located on a field/meadow next to Krivinski road, just behind runway 27. You can get there by car (just stop next to the road there is a lot of space available) or with bus number 14 (exit at stop Nova Mahala). Bit complicate to explain the direction by car but the easiest way if coming from the terminal or city center is to pass the airport on the north to get on Krivinski road. In general you can position yourself on several postions along this road and the fields around. |
| WHAT | This location is great for photograph aircrafts landing on runway 27. |
| TIME | In the winter all day is good for photos if you stay on the south side. In the summer just move over to the north side of the approach path in the evening and morning. |
| MISC. | Nothing nearby, take everything you need with you. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | A320 = 80mm You can also benefit from wider lens such as 24-70 as the aircarfts could pass just above your head. |
South Side:
North Side:
 |
Spot #4 – The Lake – 27 arrivals and departures |
|---|---|
| WHERE | This spot is located next to the fence from the north. Easiest way to reach is by car if you start from the previous spots next to Krivinski Rd. Drive northwards, pass the approach lights of runway 27 and after 1km more and you will spot a small gravel road in the sunflower field on your left. Drive along that farm road till you reach the airport fence. Park here and start spotting. Once again there is a hill from where you can clear the fence. |
| WHAT | This location is great to photograph aircraft landing and departing runway 27. On the right hand side of the military apron the aircraft which are not parked in front of the hangars are old Antonov and Tupolev planes used for training from the anti terrorist units. All these aircraft are visible from this spot but are far away. There is no chance to get good photo even with a 600mm lens. |
| TIME | During the summer light conditions are great from sunrise till 9AM and from 6PM till sunset. Winter not usable. |
| MISC. | Nothing nearby, take everything you need with you. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | CRJ700 on taxiway = 210mm,: A319 on runway = 100mm |
 |
Spot #5 – Mound – 27 movements |
|---|---|
| WHERE | This spot is located next to the fence where taxiway H and runway 27 intersections. There is a gravel road next to the previous location that will bring you to the spot. Note that you have around 600m of gravel road. It is not recommended to go to this location after rain because the road become muddy and you car could stuck in it. Best way is to park at #2 and walk to this location. There is a mound from where you can clear the fence so no ladder is needed. |
| WHAT | This location is great for photograph aircrafts landing and departing runway 27. Departing aircrafts line up runway 27 just in front of the spot. |
| TIME | Light conditions are good all day except summer evenings. |
| MISC. | Nothing nearby, take everything you need with you. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 738 = 140mm; A320 on runway = 180mm |
Hello all, is it possible to take decent photos airside when in the terminal? Is the glass clean and not or just slightly tinted? How about window reflection? Thanks, Leo
We had some reports you can shoot from inside the terminal. No clue how the glass looks like. Please send us your experiences and pictures later on.
Sev
I went there last week with bright sunshine and around 20 degrees Celsius. As long there is some wind it is more or less fine with the heat haze. But if the wind is calm it’s not an easy task to get decent pictures. Be aware when arriving by metro you cannot go directly via the stairs from the station to the park due to construction work. From the station you need to walk all along the terminal. At the end of the terminal turn left across the street towards car parking 4. From there you can enter the park. Enjoy the shooting!
Hi 🙂
Has anyone here experiences with the heat haze at Spot 1?
I will be there in Mid/End May from late morning until the sun is onto axis.
Thanks a lot!
-Tom
Hi Tom,
on the taxiway this should’t be a problem but onto the runway you can expect it late morning on a warm sunny day.
Patrick
Hi, I am a 13 year old boy who bought a semi professional camera second hand a few months ago. I saw some videos about plane spotting on the internet and I thought that it will be an interesting thing to do when i have free time. I choose spot 4 for plane spotting, but I went to Google maps and I saw that the road to spot 4 is closed by a gate. Am I mistaken, or there is other road to spot 4?
Thanks!
-Adam
Hi Adam, I can’t see a gate on google maps. I think you mean the gate that leads to the facility next to the location? You have to turn left to the fence BEFORE the entrance to this facility.
-Julian
Thank you very much!
I found the road.
Hi,
Recently visited and the road to spot 3 no longer exists, it has been converted to a part of a corn field.
Hi, thanks for the info. I have removed the location from the guide. Is there an alternative for the mound?
-Julian
Hi there’s a small road near which you can get good shots of arrivals for example shots check my instagram @runway28spotter
Hi, in my opinion there is no reason to remove this spot from the guide. The small mound near the fence still exists. It’s a very good location for getting the 27 arrivals. Easy accessible from the road. For example from the bus 14 station Nova Mahala or Nova Vrazhdebna.
Hi, maybe the farmer? just placed a new hill? I will add it again.
Thanks, Julian
Hi Julian, I have noticed the same restrictions regarding El Al at other airports as well. Do you know why is that? What is special about EL Al? Thanks!
Hi, political reasons. Israel is a high security country and at almost every airport where flights from El Al or any other local carrier arrive there are additional security protections.
-Julian
Hi there,
Who can tell me what all those big ones are doing over there?
I regularly see Atlas Air 757, or Cimber 777’s at your airport.
As far as I know this was not the case a few years ago?
thanks for the answer,
Cheers, Rients.
Hi Patrick,
The ladder is not recommended to use because you don’t need it or because it’s not allowed and you get in trouble if you use it?
Thanks!
Hi, as noticed in the guide you don`t need it. Of course you can use one but if you read our security infos you know why you should not use one.
All other infos can be found in the detailed description.
Cheers, Julian