Bulgaria Could Purchase New Government Plane

Photo: BGNES

One of the Bulgarian government planes could be substituted as stated by Bulgarian Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski.

The idea involves selling the currently used 130-seat Airbus.

''Use of such a big machine is not feasible,'' Moskovski added, as quoted by Pressa daily. ''It would be better for us to buy a 25-30-seat three-engine machine that will be able to also operate international flights.''

Former Director of 28 Air Detachment Pencho Penchev pointed out that there are many options but the most feasible one would be a business jet. He added that the government Airbus could easily be sold for USD 20 M.

The information was released days after the government jet Falcon malfunctioned last Wednesday. As the plane took off on a route to Brussels, with Bulgarian PM Borisov on board, the crew realized the plane's landing gear could not retract properly.

The same glitch was noticed on February 18, when the plane was grounded for further inspection.

In 2008 the former leftist government of BSP party with leader Sergey Stanishev purchased two planes at a cost of USD 44,2 M. The deal has been largely criticized as the machines were formerly used.

In 2009, the first center-right GERB government led by Boiko Borisov returned one of the planes and renegotiated the loan for the second one.

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