Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Flight hours of Bulgarian military pilots are way below NATO’s standards

Photo: BGNES

The flight hours of the Bulgarian military pilots are way below NATO’s minimum standards, the Commander of the Bulgarian Air Forces Major General Tsanko Stoykov said at Krumovo Air Base. The Bulgarian pilots should fly ten times more to cover the NATO standards, General Stoykov went on to say. On Monday evening a military helicopter MI-17 crashed at this air base. Two pilots died in the accident. The pilots who lost their lives during the accident had 17 and respectively 18 flight hours since the beginning of 2018. According to the NATO standards, each military pilot has to fly 180 hours a year, of which 40 hours may be spent in a flight simulator. The Bulgarian military pilots cannot cover these standards due to the lack of enough resourcing, Major General Stoykov pointed out.




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

4.2% decline in exports to the EU in January - April 2025

In the first four months of the year, export of goods from Bulgaria to the European Union decreased by 4.2% compared to the same period last year and amounted to 8.6 million euros, BGNES reports, quoting data from the National..

published on 7/10/25 2:36 PM

Police uncover the largest illegal cigarette factory in Bulgaria

An operation by the General Directorate Combating Organized Crime and the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor's Office has uncovered the largest illegal cigarette factory to date, Radio Stara Zagora of the Bulgarian National Radio has..

published on 7/10/25 1:53 PM
Elisa Spiropali and Natalia Kiselova

Albania wants cooperation for peace with Bulgaria, Kosovo and Croatia, Elisa Spiropali says

Albania is extremely committed to security and peace in the region, said the Speaker of the Albanian Parliament, Elisa Spiropali, who is on an official visit to Sofia. After a meeting with her Bulgarian counterpart Natalia Kiselova,..

published on 7/10/25 1:41 PM