site.btaMRF - New Beginning Proposes Closing Down State Aviation Operator

The Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning party is proposing the closure of the State Aviation Operator. This was announced on Wednesday by the party’s press office, which put out a statement clarifying their position. 

The State Aviation Operator (known as Aviation Unit 28 until 2021), is Bulgaria’s government air service responsible primarily for special-purpose flights and air transport for ministries and state agencies. The use of the government fleet  periodically stirs political controversy with accusations being traded of who overuses it.

MRF-New Beginning argued Wednesday that the State Aviation Operator as "a structure with one aircraft and over a hundred-strong staff, for which tens of millions are paid from the budget every year".

In its reasoning for the proposal, the party alleges that Kiril Petkov, in his capacity as Prime Minister (2021), used the State Aviation Operator for "romantic trips" to the Aegean Sea, and that President Rumen Radev used the government jet to go on holidays with his wife. It further says that what it calls "State tourism", paid for by the taxpayers, "is unacceptable and must stop". 

The party welcomed Transport Minister Grozdan Karadjov's decision to auction off the government's Falcon jet. The party says that a reasonable solution can be found with the national carrier for the travel requirements of the prime minister, president and National Assembly chair. 

The State Aviation Operator website does not mention the size of its fleet but it appears that in addition to the Falcon it also has at least one Airbus A-319 (a government budget report for 2024 in include “major repair of an an Airbus A-319 of the State Aviation Operator").