Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Grozdan Karadjov announced that the license of the ground operator "Swissport Bulgaria" AD, which serves passengers at "Vasil Levski" Sofia Airport, will be temporarily revoked tomorrow. Its activities will be taken over by the other two licensed operators.
The statement came during an emergency inspection of the capital's airport, provoked by an incident on Friday, when nearly 300 passengers arriving on a flight from London were stranded for almost an hour in the runway between the plane and the terminal. The reason for the delay was a faulty gate, about which the ground operators were informed in advance, but did not take action to use an alternative route.
"It is unacceptable for us to have to deal with problems caused by ground operators for the third time. This is too much. Drastic sanctions and measures will follow. Bulgarian citizens have the right to the same service as they receive at other European airports," Karadjov told the media.
According to him, in addition to the inadequate reaction of the ground operator's employees, the cause of the chaos is also the poor organization of the movement of passengers arriving from non-EU countries. Currently, these passengers are being redirected from the runway back to the runway using complex logistics, from where they are transported by bus to the border control area.
The minister insisted that "SOF Connect" to present architectural solutions as soon as possible that will improve the organization of passenger movement until the new Terminal 3 is built. He emphasized that inspections will continue every week, and if necessary, other licenses will be revoked.
Karadzhov also made serious criticism of the General Directorate of Civil Aviation Administration (DG CAA), which, according to him, is responsible for controlling ground operators. The Deputy Prime Minister ordered the management of the DG CAA to submit a report with specific measures to improve service by the end of the day. The directorate's secretary general will be dismissed for failure to fulfill this obligation last week.
It turns out that back in February, the concessionaire "SOF Connect" sent an official request to the DG CAA to introduce minimum quality standards for ground service. However, the request remained without action, and the responsible employees will suffer the consequences.