Today, 22 March, at a workshop at the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the mechanisms for the distribution of state aid to airlines will be discussed. Representatives of the Bulgarian Aviation Industry Association (BAIA) and the Association of Bulgarian Airlines (ABA) will attend the meeting.
Recall that last year the Council of Ministers approved 60 million BGN of state aid for the Bulgarian airlines most affected by the COVID-19 crisis. This happened after a lot of efforts by BAIA to support also the domestic aviation following the well working European model. At the end of January 2022, these funds were successfully transferred to Budget 2022 and promulgated in the State Gazette.
At the end of last week, the European Commission (EC) approved Bulgaria’s proposed scheme for state aid to air carriers. The EC identified two types of support, both of which will be in the form of direct grants. The first type of support provides support for the uncovered fixed costs of air carriers whose turnover between March 2020 and December 2021 has decreased by at least 30% compared to the same period in 2019. The second type of support consists of a limited amount of support for undertakings which have seen a decrease in turnover in 2020 of less than 30% compared to the same period in 2019. The scheme will be open to air carriers of all sizes holding a Bulgarian operating licence. The aim of the measure is to address the liquidity needs of these companies and help them to continue their operations during and after the pandemic.