Streltsi Airfield

Primarily economic reasons. The airfield was part of the extensive network of the state-owned 'Agricultural Aviation' (Селскостопанска авиация) company. After the end of the socialist era in 1989, the collective farming system was dismantled, state subsidies were eliminated, and the agricultural aviation sector collapsed. This rendered hundreds of small, specialized airfields like Streltsi economically unviable and obsolete, leading to their abandonment.

The airfield is abandoned and defunct. The paved runway is still clearly visible but is in a severe state of disrepair, with numerous cracks, potholes, and significant vegetation growth, making it completely unusable for aircraft. The associated support buildings are derelict or have been repurposed for local agricultural storage. The site is sometimes used unofficially for non-aviation activities such as car drifting, drag racing, and driver training.

Streltsi Airfield was a vital operational base for agricultural aviation in the Plovdiv Province, a major agricultural hub in Bulgaria. Its sole purpose was to support the intensive, industrialized agriculture of the socialist period. Operations primarily involved crop dusting, aerial fertilization, and pest control for the large collective farms in the region. The typical aircraft used would have been the Antonov An-2, the workhorse of Eastern Bloc agricultural aviation. The airfield had no scheduled passenger services or significant military function; its importance was purely tied to the local agricultural economy.

There are no known or publicly discussed plans to reopen Streltsi Airfield. The cost to restore the runway and infrastructure to modern safety standards would be substantial. Furthermore, with the decline of large-scale agricultural aviation and the proximity of the major international Plovdiv Airport (LBPB), there is no economic or logistical demand for its reactivation. The prospect of reopening is considered virtually non-existent.