Pchelnik Airstrip

Primarily economic reasons. The airstrip was part of a nationwide network for agricultural aviation ('Selskostopanska Aviatsiya'). After the fall of the socialist government in 1989, the collective farming system was dissolved, and the centralized, state-funded agricultural aviation model collapsed. The demand for large-scale aerial spraying plummeted, rendering hundreds of such specialized airstrips across the country, including Pchelnik, economically unviable and obsolete. They were subsequently abandoned.

The airstrip is completely abandoned and in a state of advanced decay. Satellite imagery shows a single paved runway, approximately 850 meters long, which is heavily cracked, weathered, and partially overgrown with grass and shrubs. The associated support buildings and hangars are derelict and in ruins. The site is not maintained and is inaccessible for any official aviation purposes. It is occasionally used unofficially by locals for recreational activities such as driving practice or informal drag racing, a common fate for abandoned runways in the region.

Pchelnik Airstrip's significance was functional and local, not strategic or commercial. It was a vital component of the socialist-era agricultural infrastructure in the Varna Province. Its primary operation was to support agricultural aviation. Light aircraft, most notably the Antonov An-2 and Zlín Z-37 Čmelák, would operate from the airstrip for crop dusting, pest control, and aerial fertilization of the large collective farms in the Dolni Chiflik municipality. It was a base for the Varna branch of the state-owned 'Selskostopanska Aviatsiya' company and represented the industrial scale of agriculture practiced in Bulgaria during that period.

There are no known or credible plans for reopening Pchelnik Airstrip. The infrastructure would require a complete and costly reconstruction of the runway, taxiways, and buildings. Given the lack of economic demand for a small airfield in this specific location and its relative proximity to the major Varna International Airport (VAR), there is no financial or logistical incentive for its revival. The site is expected to remain derelict or eventually be reclaimed for agricultural use.