• Never give in to the difficulties, said the Bulgarian pilot of the world’s largest aircraft
• By landing Airbus A380 in Sofia we wrote the aviation history, said Bakalov

The members of the Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria had an exciting meeting with the incredible Mario Bakalov — a pilot of the largest passenger plane Airbus A380, . The After work event took place at The View restaurant in Sofia.

With his captivating story Mario Bakalov, who is also a motivational speaker, raised the curtains of the aviation world to the ladies. He has been a part of this world since the age of 23 despite having dreamt of it since the age of 5.

Not giving up to the challenges and difficulties, in 2014 he made another one of his dreams come true– to be a pilot of Airbus A380. Two years later he wrote the aviation history by landing the largest passenger plane in Sofia. “This day changed my life – I understood that I could be an inspiration for young people and for other people”, said Mario. This stimulated him to begin to give motivational speeches in order to make people believe in themselves. “I have often faced challenges but my perseverance helped me a lot”, stated Mr Bakalov. He also shared that he is organizing trainings and workshops for managers where the analogies with the aviation world are often made. The main idea is to see the managers’ reactions when they are out of the meeting room and face challenges, explained the pilot.

For more than an hour he answered the questions of the audience. Dr. eng. Boriana Manolova, chairwoman of the Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria and CEO of Siemens Bulgaria, said there is something in common between the aviation world and the business world – the dynamics and the need for fast reaction. She asked Mario Bakalov how the pilots manage to relax. “When my flight is over, my work is over and for you the stress continues even after the end of the workday”, answered Bakalov.