Category: News

BULATSA “Fly-By” basketball team won its first championship title in its history after winning the trophy in the Third Division of the National Amateur Basketball League (NABL).

In the last match for the title against the AK-47-ers team, Boris Matrakov led Fly-By to the trophy with 23 points, 19 rebounds and 5 assists. Petar Zagorov also performed excellently, contributing 19 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 blocks, and Georgi Tunev finished with 14 points and 5 rebounds. Boris Matrakatov also won individual awards for Most Valuable Player and Top Scorer in the playoffs.

Fly-By, which finished fourth in the regular season, remained undefeated in the playoffs on their way to the title. Until that moment, the achievements of BULATSA’s basketball players included the bronze medals of the Fourth Division in the 2021/22 season and the “Veselin Gospodinov” Sportsmanship Cup from the 2022/23 season were recorded in the business card of the BULATSA basketball players.

The next challenge for the team is the hosting of an international, friendly mini tournament, which will be held in Sofia on October 30 under the title “55 years BULATSA” and will take place with the courtesy of NABL (https://nalb.bg/). Guests will be the teams of the air traffic controllers from Romania, Serbia and North Macedonia.

The air traffic controllers of BULATSA are in the top 10 in Europe in terms of serviced traffic. On 15 June, 3 711 aircraft flew through Bulgaria and were serviced 3 499 aircraft, which is 42 more flights than those serviced on the first Sunday of August 2023.

The record high traffic placed the Sofia Area Control Center (ACC) among the top ten of their colleagues in Europe during the intense summer season. This places BULATSA air traffic controllers eighth in Europe after London ACC, Karlsruhe ACC, Maastricht UAC, Marseille ACC, Wien ACC and Madrid ACC, and second in the region – right after Ankara ACC.

The safe and efficient traffic service was ensured by the use of eleven operating sectors, combined in a sector configuration reflecting the specific load and complexity in the western part of Bulgaria.

BULATSA celebrates the World Environment Day, 5 June with the eco-initiative “Day Without a Car – TOGETHER for Cleaner Air”, which takes place for the second year in a row.

BULATSA’ employees volunteered to participate in the campaign by using alternative transport or carpooling to and from work, reaffirming their concern and commitment to the protection and enhancement of the environment and the actions towards a more sustainable future.

All participants received reusable glass bottles as part of the company’s policy to promote a circular economy and reduce plastic waste.

Today, BULATSA is celebrating its 55th anniversary. On this day in 1969 was established Directorate “Air Traffic Control” (ATC) as a separate, independent organizational structure within the State Economic Association “Bulgarian Civil Aviation”.  

Today, the airspace over Bulgaria and over part of the Black Sea is serviced by one regional and four airport centres in Sofia, Varna, Burgas, Gorna Oryahovitsa and Plovdiv. BULATSA is a member of CANSO, DANUBE FAB, SESAR and a co-founder of the coordination platform GATE ONE, and actively participates in the work of Eurocontrol, ICAO and many European and scientific research projects. The enterprise has implemented and maintains state-of-the-art ATC and CNS systems and has one of the most advanced simulators in Europe, where are trained Bulgarian air traffic controllers and their colleagues from other countries. BULATSA employs 366 highly qualified air traffic controllers who are recognized as some of the best professionals in Europe.

Happy anniversary!

Today BULATSA Academy announces the start of its spring recruitment campaign for air traffic controllers. As every year, BULATSA invites everyone wishing to be trained for the profession to submit their documents online on the website of the enterprise until 30 April 2024 inclusive. After this date the admission shall continue, but those admitted to the selection will be redirected for the autumn session at the end of the year. To be accepted for training, the applicants must successfully pass five stages of selection. A mandatory requirement is a higher education with a minimum educational degree “bachelor”, regardless of the specialty. The first stage of the selection is admission of documents, after which the candidates who meet the requirements will have to pass FEAST (First European Air Traffic Controller Selection Test), which is conducted in two parts. Those who qualify will also have to pass a class 3 medical fitness test, practical exercises on a simulator and a concluding interview. The Certificate of English language proficiency B 2 is no longer required because the language level is assessed through the FEAST test. The training at BULATSA Academy is two years, during which is provided a monthly scholarship. In order to present the profession of air traffic controller, BULATSA will hold “Open Days” on 20 February, 12 March and 2 April 2024. Those wishing to attend must register on the website of the enterprise.

A delegation of Oro Navigacija – the Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP) of Lithuania visited BULATSA. The purpose of the meeting was to present the activities and main projects of the two ANSPs, as well as to discuss opportunities for bilateral cooperation. The Directors General of BULATSA Georgi Peev and of Oro Navigacija Saulius Batavičius exchanged information on the work of the two ANSPs and discussed possibilities for bilateral cooperation. The team of BULATSA presented the activities of the enterprise with a focus on operational and technical projects, and the colleagues from Oro Navigacija outlined the organization’s future development plans as a leading provider of ANS in the airspace of the Baltic Sea region and a leader in the aviation solutions offered. The guests visited the Operations Room and the Technical Room, where they got acquainted with the practical aspects of the work of BULATSA.