Balkan Holidays closes down in UK
After six decades, specialist tour operator Balkan Holidays Ltd has ceased trading in the UK.
It officially shuttered on 24 April 2025, just ahead of its 60th anniversary in the UK.
It says customers currently overseas will be unaffected while those with forward bookings will be refunded.
As a leading specialist tour operator to Bulgaria, Balkan Holidays offered a summer programme flying into Bourgas for beach holidays.
The company also chartered its own flights to Sofia for skiing and snowboarding holidays, as well as holidays to Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Malta and Northern Cyprus.
It offered departures from 17 UK airports and at its peak the company carried over 130,000 passengers annually.
Balkan Holidays Ltd UK managing director Alexander Stoyanov said: “It is really sad that the company should cease trading in the UK after all these years. The company is solvent, but it has become increasingly difficult to be competitive and profitable in the UK.”
“Nobody will be left out of pocket and all suppliers will be paid and I thank them sincerely for their support.”
“I am really sorry to disappoint our customers and the travel agents, who have booked holidays with us for this summer and beyond”.
“Based in London is a fantastic, dedicated team of travel professionals, some I have personally worked with since I joined the company 26 years ago and unfortunately redundancies are unavoidable.”
Balkan Holidays was one of the first ATOL holders in the UK.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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