The transformation of the Directorate General Civil Aviation Administration into an autonomous agency is among the main priorities of the Bulgarian Aviation Industry Association (BAIA) in 2022. The General Aviation Regulatory Authority needs urgent reconstruction and renewal of staff. This is what the President of the organization Todor Ivandjikov said in his first interview in the new year 2022. And added:
“Currently, DG CAA operates without the freedom to act quickly and efficiently, with minimal steps to implement changes to regulations and procedures that are necessitated by changes to European regulations and the economic situation in the world. There is a serious lack of aviation staff with good experience, both in the CAA and in the industry. Separating it as an independent department would make the administration far more flexible in its decision making and the way it works to support the industry, which is already collapsing alongside the COVID crisis. It will be able to restructure with the right departments and connections, and quickly digitize with good software so as to ease both their work and that of the business “
According to the State Administration Act, this can happen on the basis of Art. 54. (1) (amend. – SG 99/01) The executive agency shall be an administration under a designated minister for administrative services to natural and legal persons, as well as for the performance of activities and services related to ensuring the activities of the bodies of state power and the administration. (2) (suppl. – SG 99/01) An executive agency shall be established by law or by a decree of the Council of Ministers, (4) The Executive Agency shall be managed and represented by an Executive Director. In this regard, the Member of Parliament of Keep the Change Georgi Gvozdeykov said:
“DG CAA urgently needs to reform and restructure in order to be more efficient and perform its oversight functions in line with the European regulatory framework. The aim is to optimise the structure, not simply to replace one person with another. In the Ministry of Transport, only the CAA is a Directorate-General and all the others are executive agencies. The law allows it not to be an EXECUTIVE, but only an AGENCY .”
He said the main aviation regulator should be restructured into the Civil Aviation Agency.
“Some departments will be streamlined and new ones will be created. For example, one of the most important departments in the CAA is missing. This is the development of UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems). We expect this reform to start as soon as possible in order to begin the upgrade of the CAA,” Gvozdeykov added.
Among BAIA’s top priorities, the allocation of state aid to airlines is also on the agenda. It should be recalled that in mid-November 2021 the 46th National Assembly approved BGN 60 million – funds supposedly intended to save the domestic carriers most affected by the COVID-19 crisis. As these were not realised last year, they have been transferred to Budget 2022. However, the organization insists on an urgent change of the promulgated article 109 of the Law, according to which, through these finances, will be liabilities accumulated until 2019. And remind that the coronavirus pandemic started in early 2020, and the airlines, began to experience difficulties after the cancellation of flights in March. In this regard, an expert working group is currently being set up to guide the transparent allocation of funds.
In 2022, BAIA will also work on the following issues:
- Establishment of a new (Civil) Aviation Act;
- Support businesses with building postholding capacity;
- The restoration of Ruse Airport and the resumption of domestic scheduled services;
- Rehabilitation of Burshen airport near Sliven and its transformation into a test site for UAVs;
- The state should find a way to free Plovdiv Airport from “legal burden” so that a normal concession can be launched to further develop the airport
- Development of a project for U-Space in Bulgaria, UAM systems and their integration into Bulgarian airspace to ensure safe joint traffic;
- Supporting our country’s crucial HEMS project
- Optimization of aviation specialties in domestic educational institutions and attraction of personnel in the aviation business;
- Improving flight safety at all Bulgarian airports;
- Preparations for Aviation Development Forum with invitation of guests from Europe, including EASA
- Supporting domestic production of aircraft and components