Bulgaria expects first medical helicopter to arrive on 15 January

The helicopter is now ready, it has come off the assembly line. After passing the tests, it will be accepted by an acceptance committee and on January 15 the helicopter will arrive, making a flight from Italy to Bulgaria, Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov said on November 30. He participated in the meeting of the relevant parliamentary committee.

He reported to the MPs on Bulgaria's progress in the construction of the Helicopter Emergency Medical System HEMS. Minister Gvozdeykov stressed that between 12 and 15 December a group will travel from Bulgaria to Italy to receive the machine once the necessary tests have been made.

Currently, a group of employees from 112 system is being trained in Italy by specialists, the minister added, to build the system. Gvozdeykov stressed that the documentation for the public procurement procedure for the construction of the six operational bases is ready.

Images by BTA

Italian colleagues from the manufacturer's plant made a special programme for Bulgaria, where the pilots will start training. First, a casting will be made for pilots who may or may not have the relevant piloting license. They are ready to do all the training in a very short period between a year and a half, and two years. The shortage of pilots is enormous, we cannot deal with this problem alone. By 2026, when the last helicopter is to be delivered, they will be able to train at least 20 pilots, which will be enough for us, Georgi Gvozdeykov also said.

First Bulgarian emergency helicopter starts test flights in November

He also explained why the government had to supplement the project with BGN 3.1 million by its decision of Wednesday.

"The helicopter, which is currently being produced, is under the Operational Programme Regions in Growth, which ends in 2023. Since it is strictly fixed and the production of the helicopter itself was costly by a little over three million BGN, the Council of Ministers decided to co-finance it," he said.

Source: BTA

The first hospital heliport in the country starts operation near Panagyurishte