thumb|right|[[BAe 146|BAe146-200]]
Hemus Air (Bulgarian title: Хемус Ер) was an airline based in Sofia, Bulgaria. It operated scheduled domestic and international services from Sofia and Varna, as well as charter, cargo and air ambulance services. Its main base was Sofia Airport, with a hub at Varna Airport.
History
Hemus Air, named after the ancient name for the Balkan mountains, was owned by Varna-based industrial/financial enterprise TIM. The airline was established in 1986 as an autonomous unit of Balkan Bulgarian Airlines and started operations in 1987. It initially operated ambulance services, flight calibration and aerial photography and, from December 1990, also schedules. In 1996, it became a separate legal entity of Balkan Bulgarian Airlines. Hemus promised to invest a further €86m over the next five years and in 2007 began to coordinate the schedules and operations with Bulgaria Air. As of February 2009, all Hemus aircraft were operating for the nes parent company, Bulgaria Air. This latter absorbed assets and operations in early 2010s.
Destinations
All Hemus Air destinations are now operated under the commercial brand of Bulgaria Air.
Fleet
thumb|right|[[Yakovlev Yak-40 was the first jet-propelled aircraft in service]]
thumb|right|[[Tupolev Tu-134s were instrumental to enlarge the operations range]]
thumb|right|[[Tupolev Tu-154 was the largest aircraft in operation]]
The Hemus Air fleet includes the following aircraft (at July 2012):
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Hemus Air fleet
|-
!Aircraft
!Total
!Passengers
!Routes
!Notes
|-
|Airbus A319-100
|2
|144
|Short-Medium haul<br>Europe and Middle East
|Operating for Bulgaria Air.
|-
|ATR 42-300
|1
|46
|Short haul<br>Balkans
|Stored at Sofia Airport.
|-
|Avro RJ70
|1
|26
| Short haul VIP
|Operating private and VIP charters.
|-
|BAe146-200
|3
|90
|Short-Medium haul<br>Europe
|Operating for Bulgaria Air, 2 are stored at Sofia Airport.
|-
|BAe146-300
|3
|110
|Short haul Europe
|Operating for Bulgaria Air,
|-
|Total
|10
!colspan="3"|
|}
Most of these aircraft are operating for Bulgaria Air until the two airlines merge; then they will all be transferred to Bulgaria Air's fleet.
Retired fleet
- Boeing 737-300
- Boeing 737-400
- Tupolev Tu-134
- Tupolev Tu-154
- Yakovlev Yak-40
- Let L-410 Turbolet
Accidents and incidents
- On 2 August 1988, Yak-40 LZ-DOK failed to get airborne and crashed after it overran the runway at Sofia Airport, killing 29 of 37 on board. All civil traffic had been halted at Sofia Airport to allow Todor Zhivkov's Tu-154 to take off. But the Tu-154 was delayed, so ATC cleared the Yak-40 to take off "as quickly as possible". In their haste, the crew forgot to set the trim correctly.
- Hemus Air Flight 7081 was hijacked en route from Beirut International Airport to Varna on 3 September 1996. The hijacker, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, allowed the 150 passengers to leave the aircraft at Varna and he and the eight crew members continued to Oslo Airport, Gardermoen where he gave up. He initially claimed that he only wanted to seek asylum, but he later claimed he was under orders to crash the aircraft into Oslo.