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The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and BULATSA, the Bulgarian Air Navigation Service Provider, have agreed to develop and implement a Bulgarian National Airspace Strategy.
BULATSA and IATA will strengthen their existing cooperation for this initiative, which is aimed at delivering benefits to the travelling public, while supporting national economic growth and the competitiveness of the Bulgarian aviation sector.
Passenger demand for air transport in Bulgaria is set to double over the next two decades. Servicing this demand, while ensuring safety, and managing costs, CO2 emissions and delays, requires Bulgaria to further modernize its airspace and Air Traffic Management (ATM) network. Successful airspace modernization is expected to create significant benefits, generating an extra €628 million in annual GDP and 11,300 jobs annually by 2035.
BULATSA and IATA have committed to work together and with all aviation stakeholders to deliver and implement the National Airspace Strategy in support of the Single European Sky (SES) initiative. The main aspects of the strategy cover leadership and a collaborative stakeholder approach, airspace management, and technical modernization of the ATM system.
Georgi Peev, Director General of BULATSA, explained: “I welcome this initiative, which will support the ongoing evolution of our technology and operations. The development of a national airspace strategy would further enhance the good cooperation with our customers and partners and would contribute to achieving the SES high level goals. The implementation of BULATSA’s key projects related to airspace reorganization and to capabilities to meet high traffic levels combined with increased complexity of operations are expanding the foundation for the delivery of BULATSA’s ambitious targets.”
Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO, said earlier: “Bulgaria will occupy an ever-more important position in European airspace as East-West traffic increases in the coming years. And Bulgaria itself is a fast-growing economy which will see a significant passenger surge. Ensuring that the airspace is optimized to cope with increased traffic will benefit not only Bulgaria but the wider European traveling public. As Bulgaria takes up its Presidency of the European Union, this commitment to building a National Airspace Strategy is a concrete sign of the nation fulfilling a strategic leadership role. We congratulate BULATSA for its vision, and look forward to working with them to make airspace modernization a success.”
The Bulgarian National Airspace Strategy will include:

• Enhancement of coordination for more efficient flightpaths;
• Airspace optimization at regional level as well as between regions;
• Increased capacity while ensuring safety levels;
• Improved punctuality of flights;
• Better sharing of information across the European air transport network.

BULATSA Director General Georgi Peev and the Director of European Programmes, Projects and Strategies Veselin Stoyanov participated in the 63-th meeting of the European Committee of the CEOs of the Air Traffic Service Providers (ANSPs) members of the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO). The meeting was held on 21 February 2018 in Brussels and Mr Eamonn Brennan, the newly appointed EUROCONTROL DG, and Dr Regula Dettling-Ott, Chair of the Performance Review Body (PRB) joined the discussions as external guests.
The main areas of discussion were related to the position of the European ANSPs on key topics – the changes in the Performance Scheme within the third Reference Period (RP3), the improved stakeholder relations with EUROCONTROL and the future of the Network Manager.
Other topics of current interest included also the communications activities of CANSO to influence the aviation community as well as updates on relevant EASA activities and European Commission’s initiatives.

The director general of KAZAERONAVIGATSIA (ANSP of Kazakhstan) Mr. Azat Bekturov visited BULATSA. He discussed with Mr. Georgi Peev the important topics and challenges for the Bulgarian and the Kazakh air navigation services providers, the modernization of the technical infrastructure, the projects for optimization of the meteorological services, the current situation of the air traffic in the region of the Black and Caspian seas and the training of air traffic controllers.
The guest visited the operational room for air traffic control and the aviation training centre. BULATSA demonstrated its capabilities for training of air traffic controllers.

Controller Tools and Team Organisation for the Provision of Separation in Air Traffic Management – PJ 10 (PROSA)
BULATSA hosted a Visitors’ Day demonstrating the Validation Exercise of the TESLA (Tactical Encounter Solver Assistant) prototype. The event took place at BULATSA premises on November 21, 2017 and was attended by representatives of AIRBUS, EUROCONTROL, INDRA, THALES, DFS, COOPANS and BULATSA.
TESLA (Tactical Encounter Solver Assistant) is a joint project of Airbus D&S and BULATSA, launched in 2016 under the PJ 10 PROSA (Controller Tools and Team Organisation for the Provision of Separation in the Air Traffic Management) of the SESAR 2020 Programme.
SESAR 2020 is the EU programme for development of new technologies in air traffic management. It is managed by the SESAR Joint Undertaking (SJU) and funded by the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme. It encompasses a series of projects with the aim to develop and validate new air traffic management technology solutions.
Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs) are responsible for the provision of safe and efficient air traffic services. In order to monitor and communicate with the airplanes ATCOs are assisted by automated air traffic management systems. The main task is to maintain separation in order to avoid dangerous proximity between aircrafts and ground and airborne delays. The continuous traffic growth and the introduction of Free Route Airspace set up serious challenges before the ATCOs, that require the introduction of new technological solutions to improve flight safety and performance.
Between 13 and 17 November 2017, the dedicated teams of BULATSA and Airbus D&S jointly carried out a validation exercise of the TESLA prototype, on the especially equipped test platform “BULATSA innovation grid” – with real time simulation and work positions for ATCOs and pseudo-pilots. The purpose of the validation was to test the prototype and to collect specialized information on the TESLA maturity to support its subsequent development, according to the requirements and standards set by SJU.
The aim of TESLA is to assist the ATCOs in resolving potential conflicts in high density terminal areas. The prototype assesses and presents the ATCOs with various options for preventing potential conflicts by tracking and analyzing aircraft trajectories. TESLA shows which solutions are safe for each specific situation – whether the aircraft should climb or descent, and at what vertical speed rate. Other possible solutions are to change the direction of the flight and adjust the speed of the aircraft in order to avoid potential conflicts. The results and assessment of the maturity status of the TESLA prototype are expected at the end of the first quarter of 2018.
The behaviour and capabilities of TESLA were presented during the Visitors Day, through simulation of air traffic services with medium and high traffic in the generic TMA based on the Sofia Airport TMA. Using the prototype, ATCOs demonstrated possible solutions for a large number of conflict situations.

About SESAR
As the technological pillar of the Single European Sky initiative, SESAR aims to modernise and harmonise air traffic management in Europe. The SESAR Joint Undertaking (SESAR JU) was established in 2007 as a public-private partnership to support this endeavour. It does so by pooling the knowledge and resources of the entire ATM community in order to define, research, develop and validate innovative technological and operational solutions. The SESAR JU is also responsible for the execution of the European ATM Master Plan which defines the EU priorities for R&D and implementation. Founded by the European Union and Eurocontrol, the SESAR JU has 19 members, who together with their partners and affiliate associations will represent over 100 companies working in Europe and beyond. The SESAR JU also works closely with staff associations, regulators, airport operators and the scientific community.
PJ10 PROSA has received funding from the SESAR Joint Undertaking under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 734143.

The Cyprus Minister of Transport, Communications and Works Marios Demetriades visited BULATSA. The Director General Mr. Georgi Peev showed the guest the operational room, the airport control tower and the BULATSA training simulator for air traffic controllers. The parties discussed topics of common interest and possibilities for future cooperation between the two countries.