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15th October 2023. | News

Bilateral agreements on the cooperation of BHANSA with the Croatia Control Ltd. and the Serbia and Montenegro Air Traffic Services (SMATSA) have been concluded

On October 10th 2023, Bosnia and Herzegovina Air Navigation Services Agency (BHANSA) hosted a round table meeting in Mostar headed by director Mr. Davorin Primorac, where delegation of Croatia Control Ltd. headed by director Mr. Mario Kunovec - Varga and delegation of Serbia and Montenegro Air Traffic Services (SMATSA) headed by director Predrag Jovanović were present.

Very important bilateral agreements on cooperation between BHANSA – CCL and BHANSA - SMATSA were concluded at the meeting. These agreements mark the further strengthening of ties and cooperation with the aim of improving of air navigation services and flight safety in this region.

This event marks the culmination of a longstanding successful cooperation between these air navigation service providers and paves the way for an even deeper exchange of experiences and connections at all levels. The agreements signed during this meeting further strengthen the ties between these institutions, and are focused on improving air navigation services and increasing of flight safety in the region. In particular, it emphasized the rich history of this cooperation, since BHANSA, CCL and SMATSA have been successfully cooperating in the field of air traffic for many years. The concluded agreements direct this cooperation towards new challenges and opportunities in the air navigation sector, not only in our countries, but also in Southeast Europe and beyond.

Specific forms of cooperation have been agreed in the following areas:

·         Air Traffic Management  (ATM);

·         Management System;

·         Optimization of capacity, safety and contingency measures of Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS)

·         Aeronautical Meteorology;

·         cooperation with national authorities in certification and continuous compliance procedures, 

·         Aeronautical Information Services (AIS) and transition from AIS to AIM - Aeronautical Information Management;

·         Planning and implementation SWIM-System Wide Information Management 

The aforementioned agreements shall also apply to other areas of business for which cooperation is agreed upon. Teams and working bodies for the implementation of activities will be formed to implement the agreement. Coordinators will also be appointed for the agreed areas of cooperation, and coordination meetings will be held for the analysis of implementation of the concluded agreements.

In addition to the conclusion of the cooperation agreement, a large number of current issues of mutual interest were discussed during the round table of which we emphasize the exchange of experiences on the provision of air navigation services in the summer season of 2023 and activities to ensure capacity for the provision of ATS services.

It was emphasized that BHANSA, CCL and SMATSA provided safe air navigation services for a significantly increased number of aircraft flights compared to 2019 and 2022, while at the same time increasing capacity and reducing delays. Excellent mutual business and operational cooperation and daily coordination certainly contributed to such good results, but also efficiency and the ability to successfully respond to the increase in traffic demand.

The round table with the concluded cooperation agreements, provided the basis for the continuation and further deepening of the already successful cooperation of three neighboring air navigation service providers - BHANSA, CCL and SMATSA.

Current cooperation of these institutions has been crucial for ensuring the safety and efficiency of air traffic in the region. The regular exchange of experiences and information enabled a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities we face every day. Over the years, mutual trust and a common vision of improving air traffic have been developed, which has resulted in a significant increase in competitiveness and contributed to the increase in air traffic in our region, and thus to the increase in BHANSA's income. The projects especially contributed to this are the projects of establishing areas of free route flight planning, first SEAFRA (South-East Axis Free Route Airspace) and then SECSI FRA (The South East Common Sky Initiative Free Route Airspace), which currently covers the airspace of 8 countries: Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia. In addition, activities are currently being carried out to merge the SECSI FRA and the Italian FRA. As a reminder, these projects brought numerous benefits to the users of our services, such as shortening the flight path, reducing fuel consumption and protecting the environment by reducing the emission of greenhouse gases CO2 and nitrogen oxide NOx. The European Commission recognized this great achievement and awarded the partners in the SEAFRA project (BHANSA, HKZP and SMATSA) the prestigious Single European Sky award in 2017. The SECSI FRA project, which was created by merging the space for free route flight planning SEAFRA (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia) and SAXFRA (Austria and Slovenia) in 2019 earned the Single European Sky award from the European Commission in the Network Performance category. North Macedonia and Albania joined this project in 2021.

BHANSA, CCL and SMATSA achieved the best possible cooperation during the implementation of the project of the establishment of area air traffic control in the airspace of BiH by the BH Area Control Center - BHACC, especially contributing to the success of this project, which entered the history of civil aviation in BiH.

Nowadays, BHANSA, CCL and SMATSA cooperate extremely successfully in all fields in order to provide air navigation services in a safe and efficient manner with minimal delays and care for environmental protection in conditions of constant traffic growth.

Significant activities are undertaken at the level of all three service providers to introduce and apply new technologies, in accordance with strategic development plans. In this regard, the following projects are particularly highlighted: Controller Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC), improvement of the data processing system (Data Processing System - DPS), introduction of secondary surveillance systems based on multilateration technology (MLAT), introduction of aeronautical information management system (Airspace Information Management - AIM), with the intention of transitioning to information management at the system level (System Wide Information Management - SWIM, provision of joint information services in the Unmanned Traffic Management System - U-Space) in the airspace; provision of management drone traffic services in the airspace (U-Space services in U-Space air traffic), implementation of drone systems for radio frequency (RF) measurement and performance analysis on communication, navigation and surveillance system installations (Communication, Navigation, Surveillance-CNS) and aerial verification of RNP APCH AR approach procedures.