The first of six AW109 Trekkers arrives in Sofia.
Bulgaria has entered the HEMS sector with a newly established Air Ambulance Service created as part of the country’s Recovery and Resilience plan, which is supported by funding from the European Union.
The first aircraft, a Leonardo Aw109 Trekker, arrived at Bulgaria’s Border Force headquarters at Sofia International Airport direct from the Leonardo factory in Vergiate.
While the initial cadre of six pilots has already undergone conversion training at Leonardo’s training centre at Cesto Calande (see the Training Special in the Dec 23/Jan 24 edition of RotorHub International), the paramedic team is presently concluding its training.
The first helicopter is expected to be fully operational before the end of this month. The second aircraft, which will be based at Dolna Mitropolya near the Romanian border, is expected in June, and a third, destined for Sliven in the east of the country, is due in December. The remaining three aircraft will be delivered between the end of the year and early 2026.
The aircraft are one part of the programme’s equation. A programme of hospital helipad construction is underway. Three hospitals in Sofia, Panagyurishte and the Black Sea port of Varna are already equipped with helipads. and the Bulgarian CAA is looking at applications for the construction of five further helipads – two more in Sofia as well as at Ruse, Plovdiv and Veliko Tarnovo. While it will take another 18 months for the entire network to be complete, the selection of the bases for the first two aircraft means that by the summer, the entire country will fall within the ‘golden hour’ range of a major hospital.
To read the RotorHub International Training Special, click HERE
Photo: BNT
