Zelenikovo Airstrip

Economic reasons. The airstrip was primarily used for agricultural aviation (crop dusting) which was state-run during the socialist era. With the fall of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, the collective farming system was dismantled and the state-owned agricultural aviation enterprise was dissolved. This eliminated the operational need for hundreds of small, local airstrips like Zelenikovo across the country, leading to their abandonment.

The site is abandoned and has been reclaimed for agricultural use. Satellite imagery clearly shows the faint outline of the former grass/dirt runway, but the land is now plowed and cultivated as part of the surrounding farmland. There are no remaining buildings, hangars, or aviation infrastructure. The airstrip is completely unusable for any type of aircraft.

The airstrip's significance was functional and local, not strategic or military. It was part of a vast network of agricultural airfields ('Селскостопански летища') crucial for the planned economy of socialist Bulgaria. Its primary operation was supporting the large collective farms in the fertile Upper Thracian Plain. Operations would have consisted almost exclusively of light utility aircraft, most notably the Antonov An-2, used for crop dusting, aerial seeding, and fertilization. It served no passenger or significant military role.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening the Zelenikovo Airstrip. The land has been reintegrated into private agricultural holdings, and there is no economic or logistical demand for an airfield at this location, especially given the proximity to larger, established airports. Any effort to reopen it would require significant investment to re-acquire the land and rebuild all infrastructure from scratch, which is highly improbable.