Dear BAIA Members,
Dear friends of aviation,
On 29 June 1947 the Sofia-Plovdiv-Burgas air line was opened at Vrazhdebna Airport near Sofia.
On December 27, 1946, a Decree of the Council of Ministers established the Directorate of Air Communications. The decree specified the land for airfields, warehouses, garages, vehicles, facilities and workshops to be provided free of charge by the Air Force to the Directorate of Air Communications.
Gradually, the main departments of the future enterprise are being formed – technical, flight, connection, etc. By the summer of 1947, Bulgaria had 3 Junkers-52s, 2 Li-2s, 3 Focke Wolf-18s for training and practice, 3 Fieseler Storchs, and later 3 Po-2s.
In the early morning of June 29, 1947, curious citizens began to arrive at Vrazhdebna Airport, and a little later the officials, including Prime Minister Georgi Dimitrov. After solemn speeches by Georgi Dimitrov and the director of the Bulgarian Air Communications Boris Ganev, the ribbon was cut by the Prime Minister. The first passengers and dignitaries took their seats in the plane piloted by St. Tosunov and at 10:20 a.m. the machine takes the course of the first Bulgarian air line Sofia – Plovdiv – Burgas. Първият екипаж, летял по тази линия с Junkers Ju 52/3m LZ-UNL, е в състав Никола Александров, Стефан Тосунов, Тодор Гургулие – борден механик и Павел Александров – борден радист. След него излита и Ли-2 с борден номер LZ-LIA с екипаж Никола Дюлгеров, Иван Шивачев, Методи Наков и Георги Сергиев. Редовните полети започват от 1 юли 1947 г.
Dear friends of aviation,
The date 29 June is a significant one for Bulgarian civil aviation. As an organization already composed of nearly 30 companies from the aviation sector, BAIA continues to work hard towards its successful development. One of our main priorities now is to restore the line as it was then.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who supports our initiatives and contributes to their implementation. I believe we are moving in the right direction.
Happy holiday!
Sincerely,
Todor Ivandjikov
President of BAIA