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20th November 2023. | News

The first Generation of Air Traffic Controllers is being educated in BiH

The program for a total of 25 air traffic controllers, has been started  on October 2, 2023.

Today a formal reception was organized for the partners who enabled the successful start of the project.

On that occasion, it was pointed out that the internal training of air traffic controllers marks a new chapter in the development of BHANSA, and the goal, as always, remains to improve safety, efficiency and quality of services, from which airline companies, passengers and the entire air transport sector in BiH and beyond have the greatest benefit.

Minister of Transport and Communications of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Edin Forto pointed out that this is a very important event for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"It is very important that we open training that will produce young staff to control our sky. There is a reason why we took control of the sky in 2019, and among other things, because that there was not enough certified staff of young people who could take that responsibility, there are few such on the market", said Forto.

Minister of Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina believes that Mostar can become a regional center for air traffic controller certification in the future.

"Now we can produce these people ourselves for our needs. I believe that Mostar can become a regional center to certify air traffic controller for whole region, if it is necessary for Europe as well, there is no reason for us to be lagging behind. This is generally a big event, that we work with young people who will be European certified, who will earn very well and be there and control our skies", said Forto.

Deficient staff

Davorin Primorac, director of BHANSA said : "BHANSA will have full control over the educational process by training air traffic controllers in its own arrangement and will be able to adapt it to its specific needs and requirements of the aviation industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Through this project, we are establishing our own center for training all future generations of air traffic controllers, and that speaks for itself." 

He reminded that Bosnia and Herzegovina did not control its airspace for many years after the declaration of independence. This is due to the lack of qualified staff, primarily air traffic controllers, but also other operational and technical staff.

The director of BHANSA considers: "Thanks to these kinds of projects, we solve all these questions. Not only that, but we are becoming competitive in a global market with a shortage of 15,000 air traffic controllers. The opportunity opens up for us to train air traffic controllers for third countries, a new potential opens up with the realization of a project like this.

Currently, a total of 25 candidates are being trained, 14 for area controllers and 11 for approach controllers. In addition, this contract envisages refresher knowledge for the existing 72 air traffic controllers working at BHANSA and the establishment of BHANSA's own training center to train all future generations of air traffic control with our own resources in BiH, both for our own and for the needs of the global market, " Primorac concluded.

For this purpose, significant investments were made in the necessary equipment, primarily in the most modern portable simulator which enabled Danish experts in cooperation with instructors from BHANSA to conduct the entire training in BiH.

Cooperation with Gate Aviation Training

CEO and Co-Founder of GATE Aviation Training, Dirch Jans pointed out that the Danish company has a proven reputation for providing high-quality educational programs worldwide and equips air traffic controllers with the necessary skills to manage complex air traffic situations.

Jans said: "We are unlocking new potential in this collaboration, with BHANSA. There is a great demand for air traffic controllers in the world and new potentials are opening up for Bosnia and Herzegovina now. I promise you that this will be a success as long as we work together. We all have to work together, as a team and we have to learn from each other ."