Just outside Burgas Airport, at the southern end of Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, there sits a small fleet of retired aircraft. There are a good range of craft included, perhaps around 25 vehicles, and despite its age the collection is well maintained; I’ve been to visit a few times now, and I’ve noticed that the planes are occasionally cleaned, or treated for rust.

Unlike a lot of the places I write about, this one is very easy to visit. It’s just sat there, beyond the airport car park. A guard sometimes wanders over to keep an eye on you, from his post at the nearby security barrier – but provided you don’t climb on the planes, he seems happy to let people explore and take photographs. (Although I couldn’t resist climbing into the cockpit of the Antonov one time, when I found the door unlocked and the guard otherwise distracted.)

I’m no expert when it comes to planes, so I’m not going to attempt to name all of the craft featured below… but if you fancy sharing any identifications in the comments, it would be much appreciated! Sooner or later I’ll use these photos on the front page of the blog – likely in a post that compares a number of similar sites around the world. The next set I’ll preview here is from a Latvian aircraft graveyard…