Category: News

BULATSA was host of the international basketball tournament for air traffic controllers – CONTROLLER’S BASKETBALL CUP „TOUCH AND GO” 2018, which took place in Sofia.
The tournament is organized annually in different European countries. This year the team of Bulgarian air traffic controllers competed with 14 other teams. After victories in the group phase of the tournament against the teams of Slovenia, Italy and Greece and one more victory during the direct elimination against the Hungarian team, and only two losses from the Czech and Greek teams, the Bulgarian air traffic controllers ranked 6-th.

BULATSA supports the Clean Air Day initiative, which will take place on 16 November in Sofia and is being conducted for the first time in Bulgaria.
It is part of the Sofia Municipality’s campaign to implement various educational initiatives to provide citizens with information about their personal contribution to air quality in our capital city – including by reducing the use of private cars in favour of the public transport, shared car travel from and to the workplace, transition to ecological heating, separate collection of combustible waste from the home (large-sized, tyres, textile), landscaping.
BULATSA has an active policy to protect the environment and minimize the negative impacts on it, and tomorrow the employees will participate in the initiative by refraining from using personal and company motor vehicles in favour of the public transport or for shared travel to and from the workplace.
The enterprise has a certified ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management System and is committed to environmental impact management.
The enterprise will also hold a campaign gathering of plastic caps and/or plastic bottles and will organize their delivery for recycling. The funds from the recycling will be collected and invested in the purchase and planting of trees in coordination with Sofia Municipality or the District Administration.
BULATSA plans to purchase an electric car charging station in 2019 to provide incentives for the use of electric vehicles by employees of the enterprise.

Air Traffic Controllers from BULATSA participated in real-time simulations at the headquarters of the Italian Aerospace Research Centre (CIRA) in accordance with the GRADE project implementation plan.
GRADE is a pan-European project aimed at demonstrating the capability for General Aviation aircraft and Rotorcraft to benefit from the concepts developed in the SESAR programme to integrate into the airspace and airports where the SESAR concepts and technologies are implemented.
The simulations aimed at proving the applicability of SESAR solutions #51, #55 and #103 for the general aviation. The exercises were conducted as planned and their results provided important information for the preparation of the flight tests scheduled for March 2019.
More information on the Grade project can be found on www.gradeproject.eu and on https://www.bulatsa.com/en/activities/projects/international-projects-2/sesar-2020/grade-gnss-solutions-increased-ga-and-rotorcraft-airport-accessibility-demonstration/.

The fourteenth DANUBE FAB Social Consultation Forum (SCF) was held in Sofia, Bulgaria on 6th November 2018. These regular consultations between BULATSA and ROMATSA social partners and management representatives provide a positive framework for establishing closer cooperation and exchange of professional experience and best practices.
DANUBE FAB management facilitated the active participation of the social partners in the meeting, reiterating the importance of the social dialogue in ATM. Discussions on the latest FAB developments and activities, as well as updates on the outcomes of the DANUBE FAB governing bodies meetings, held in 2018, were made. The evolution of the Free Route Airspace project, DANUBE FAB expansion perspectives and the joint participation at the World ATM Congress and Exhibition in Madrid in March 2019 were also discussed.
Participants were further informed of the outcomes of the DANUBE FAB Regulation (EU) 2017/373 Synchronised Implementation workshop, InterFAB meetings and Promotion of Toolbox for successful social dialogue in ATM Workshop.
The next DANUBE FAB social consultation will be held in 2019 in Romania.

BULATSA was one of the host organizations of the 17^-th edition of the Manager for a Day Career Forum, which took place on 30 October in Sofia. Within the framework of the initiative two young people took on the role of “Air Traffic Controller Trainees” under the guidance of the head of BULATSA’s Training Center Dimitar Chunchukov. The two “Managers for a Day” had the opportunity to closely familiarize themselves with the specifics of the Air Traffic Controllers’ work, the different training stages and the work of the whole enterprise. They visited Sofia Airport Control Tower, Sofia Air Traffic Control Centre and the training simulators in BULATSA.
This year, within the initiative organized by Junior Achievement Bulgaria, additionally was also held a Careers of Tomorrow Forum with a focus on the digitization of professions. BULATSA participated in the forum with the presentation “Digital technologies and the future of the Air Traffic Controller profession”. To the audience were presented the future trends in the development of the profession with the increasing use of digital technologies. It was emphasized that despite this fact, the human factor remains the most important one for the safe flight control.

The Airspace Management Board (AMB) held an official meeting at BULATSA. The High-level body which defines the airspace structures discussed the rules of their use, actualization of the regulatory framework and the civil-military coordination.
Representatives of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the Air Force, the Agency Hail Suppression, the GD CAA and BULATSA attended the meeting. It was a constructive and beneficial meeting where the strategic importance of the national airspace was highlighted.

Test of English for Aviation (TEA), the approved English Language Proficiency Test for aviation professionals, used by BULATSA training center, now has a new, improved version.
The new version 5.0 of the test will be in use from 01 October 2018.
TEA now has a new, improved version that will be in use from 01 October 2018.
Go to https://www.tea-test.com for samples of the new Part 2 task. Challenge yourself to do well with the new recordings and the Task Card.
An updated version of the Notes for Candidates matching the new test format can be found below.
An updated Guide for Candidates and Teachers is available here.
Since Part 2 has changed, it is strongly recommended that candidates practice the task using the materials here.
BULATSA wishes success to all TEA candidates!