site.btaRuse Airport to Be Operated by Bulgarian Company for Ten Years

Ruse Airport will be operated free of charge by Airport Ruse Ltd, comprising Bulgarian companies Shtraplan EOOD and Stroyproject EOOD, the Ruse Municipal Council decided on Tuesday. The debate on the decision continued for over three hours. 

Addressing the municipal councilors, Stroyproject owner Hristo Krusharski said that Ruse Airport needs to be certified for flights by April. "My intentions are serious. If you vote today, I will be in the field tomorrow," he said. His business is related to anti-hale systems using aircraft, and his company is active in Bulgaria and Romania.

The investment proposal envisages three stages of development. The first priority is to fence off the property and to repair and light the runway in order to have night flights. The goal is to eventually have the necessary improvements and licences that will allow passenger flights.

Shtraplan owner Antoni Tarnitsov said that the improvements in the first stage of develop will allow other clients to use Ruse Airport, too. In his words, every additional client will be of use to Airport Ruse Ltd in recovering the resources the company will invest. Tarnitsov, an aviation expert, has been working on Ruse Airport's concession analysis since 2017.

At the start of the debate, Ruse Mayor Pencho Milkov said that this is a historical moment, because Ruse wants to resume commercial flights. In his words, the investors will invest huge resources in the airport. Also, Ruse Municipality will no longer have to set aside over BGN 100,000 a year for the airport's maintenance and security.