Dear BAIA Members,
On behalf of the Board of the Association I congratulate you on the occasion of December 7 – International Civil Aviation Day. I would like today to mention only positive things concerning the aviation sector. Unfortunately, however, the airline industry is recovering extremely slowly from the detrimental effect that COVID-19 had worldwide.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), for September 2021 air traffic has reached 53.3% of the number of flights for the same period in 2019. However, in October 2021 it has risen by about 50% compared to September 2021. According to the organization, the new strain of Omicron will make the numbers go down again, especially in Europe.
A new stage in the history of world aviation is also about to be reached, which through the so-called “Green Deal” should become more environmentally friendly and protective. However, this will not be easy either. Again, according to IATA, whose 290 member airlines account for 82% of global air traffic, estimates that the industry’s green transition will cost “about $1.55 trillion.” How the Green Deal and its mandatory requirements will affect domestic carriers remains to be seen. And yet – we are happy that, despite the difficulties, our representatives still manage to delight us with successes. On November 29, the most successful Bulgarian airline this year, GullivAir, carried out a historic first charter from Sofia to Sri Lanka with an Airbus A330. Today, the innovators in the UAV segment will present their drone aircraft “The Black Swan”, which will open a new page in the field of cargo flights and make us look optimistically into the future. So far, the operations of the cargo airline Compass Air Cargo are also going quite well. However, this is not the case with the other BAIA member companies. Unfortunately, we have to recall again that two of the carriers have already surrendered their Air Operator Certificates. While awaiting the announcement of the names of the Ministers in the 47th National Assembly, we at BAIA also remind you that the much-needed state aid is yet to be distributed – a process that must be swift, transparent and fair. Dear BAIA members,I congratulate you on today’s occasion and wish you good health, trouble-free hours in the air and a far more successful 2022.
Sincerely,
Todor Ivandjikov
President of BAIA