Nineteenth Meeting of the DANUBE FAB Governing Bodies

Dec

Nineteenth Meeting of the DANUBE FAB Governing Bodies

Nineteenth meeting of the DANUBE FAB ANSP Board

Friday, 9th December 2022 (Bucharest)

Friday 9th December 2022, the management teams of BULATSA and ROMATSA met in Bucharest for their nineteenth DANUBE FAB ANSP Board meeting, maintaining the important role in shaping the strategic direction and priorities for the FAB.

The Board members reviewed the activities highlighted under the meeting agenda, based on presentations regarding the FAB Strategic Programme 2023-2027, Annual Plan 2023 and 2022 Annual Report, budget planning for next year, the DANUBE FAB High Priorities such as South East Europe Free Route Airspace (SEE FRA), the recent Single European Sky developments as well as regarding the joint participation in the newest Digital European Sky Industrial Research Call for proposals.

During this meeting, the FAB representatives were updated on projects that have recently been completed and significantly progressed within the FAB. Most notable was the continued expansion of South East Europe Free Route Airspace (SEE FRA). In February 2022, the airspace of the Republic of Moldova has been integrated in SEE FRA, while in February 2023 SEE FRA will expand even further with the inclusion of FRACZECH.

Regarding the InterFAB domain, DANUBE FAB continued to play an important role by strengthening the cooperation arrangements with other FABs and aviation stakeholders. As such, a research workshop on "Single European Sky and Resilience in ATM “ was organised by DANUBE FAB and FABEC on 15th-16th September 2022 in Sofia. The conference was held in partnership with the German Aviation Research society (G.A.R.S.). Bringing together academics and practitioners, the research workshop provided a forum for mutual exchange and an opportunity to share ideas for resilient air traffic services.

Nineteenth meeting of the DANUBE FAB Governing Council

Friday, 16th December 2022 (Bucharest)

Having regard to the requirements of the DANUBE FAB State Agreement which foresee that the meetings of the Governing Council shall be organised twice a year, the Council members held their nineteenth meeting in an online format on 16th December 2022, a week after the ANSP Board, thus ensuring the bridge between the relevant strategic and planning bodies of the FAB and the Governing Council.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministries of Transport, Civil and Military Aviation Authorities, National Supervisory Authorities and ANSPs from both States. In accordance with DANUBE FAB Observer Policy, representatives from DG MOVE were also welcomed on behalf of the European Commission.

The Council representatives reviewed the activities carried out in 2022, with a specific focus on the on-going high priority projects: Free Route Airspace, InterFAB Cooperation and Enlargement of DANUBE FAB. Members were also informed on other activities, such as budget planning for next year and the development of the FAB strategic documents, Strategic Programme 2023-2027, respectively the Annual Plan 2023.

Regarding the recent EU developments, specific updates and discussions took place such as the accession of BULATSA and ROMATSA to the SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking, their joint participation in the Digital European Sky Industrial Research Call for proposals, the new SESAR Deployment Manager Partnership and possible ways to find common grounds for a future collaboration.

As DANUBE FAB is following closely the potential impact of the reform of the SES legislative framework on ATM in the region as well as on FABs in general, the members of the Council took note of the complexity of the SES2+ recast dossier and the recent developments in the trilogue process. The participants reiterated the importance of the SES reform to enable the response to current challenges such as lack of capacity and reduction of aviation emissions in a dynamic EU regulatory environment. After 10 years of working together in the DANUBE FAB framework the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania have proven their ability to rapidly adapt, adjust, implement and apply new regulations while taking the necessary measures to have performant air navigation infrastructures and services in order to conduct safe air operations.

The next round of DANUBE FAB Governing Bodies meetings are planned for spring 2023.

Note for editors:

DANUBE FAB is the functional airspace block formed between the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania, including the Bulgarian Air Traffic Services Authority (BULATSA) and the Romanian Air Traffic Services Administration (ROMATSA), as the air navigation service providers. DANUBE FAB is a key element of the Single European Sky (SES) legislative framework, which prescribes a range of measures to ensure sufficient capacity for servicing flights over Europe.

Contact:

Communication officer for BULATSA: Nikolai Kostov