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The DANUBE FAB Governing Bodies held their eighth meetings on 26th and 27th October 2016 in Bulgaria.
Sofia, Bulgaria, 26 October 2016
The management of ROMATSA and BULATSA met in Sofia on 26th October for the eighth meeting of the DANUBE FAB ANSP Board. The meeting was co-chaired by Mr. Georgi PEEV, Director General BULATSA, and Mr. Gabriel DUMITRESCU, Director General ROMATSA.
The Status of the DANUBE FAB RP2 Performance Plan was discussed with a view to securing safe and efficient service provision. The main drivers for the Performance Plan are related to the high traffic levels due to the situation in Ukraine and the commissioning of the new airport in Istanbul, which would lead to significant changes in air traffic flows and increased complexity of the airspace. The participants were updated on the steps taken for revision of the DANUBE FAB Performance Plan for the part concerning Bulgaria with the caveat that no key performance indicators, which are monitored and measured at FAB level, will be affected from the proposed amendment of the RP2 Performance Plan.
The participants were updated on the trilateral discussions to consider Free Route Airspace (FRA) implementation between Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary that led to the initiation of the South East Europe Night Free Route Airspace project within Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania (SEEN FRA) with the support of the Network Manager. The implementation date is agreed to be 30 March 2017. It was stated that DANUBE FAB transition to full FRA operations will be dependent on several factors, including airspace design and enhanced ATCO tools. The participants were also informed about the status of the Gate One Free Route study project that aims at investigating the potential benefits of the implementation of free routes in the Gate One area covering the airspace of DANUBE FAB, FAB CE, Baltic FAB, Belgrade and Skopje FIRs.
Pravets, Bulgaria, 27th October 2016
The DANUBE FAB Governing Council held their eighth meeting on 27th October in Pravets, Bulgaria. The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministries of Transport, Civil and Military Aviation Authorities, National Supervisory Authorities and ANSPs from both countries. Delegates from the Republic of Macedonia were welcomed to the meeting as Observers following the official mandate received at the sixth Governing Council meeting in 2015. The Macedonian delegation expressed their appreciation of the support from DANUBE FAB and their interest to participate in the work of DANUBE FAB on topics of mutual interest.
Main items for discussion of the meeting were the DANUBE FAB RP2 Performance Plan developments and the initiation of South East Europe Night Free Route Airspace within Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania (SEEN FRA) with the support of the Network Manager. The last step to gradually deploy 24-hour cross-border FRA in the DANUBE FAB airspace (PHASE III FRA) is proposed to be before the end of 2019. The Governing Council noted that Phase FRA III will be implemented in a trilateral manner, without delay expected at this stage, taking into consideration also the results of the Real Time Simulations held in 2015.
The members of the DANUBE FAB Governing Council took note of the Technical Rationalisation and Infrastructure projects, common procurements, Inter-FAB cooperation including the active role of DANUBE FAB in the Inter-FAB Coordination Platform and bilateral initiatives with other FABs.
The Governing Council members were also informed of the series of studies and surveys towards the FABs across the European airspace launched by the European Commission. Particular focus was given to the study assessing the organisational, operational and technical progress of FABs with the aim to collect FAB-specific factual data from individual FABs.
The outcomes from the NSA Board and ANSP Board meetings were also discussed.
The next round of DANUBE FAB Governing Bodies meetings is planned for spring 2017 in Romania.

How is Air Traffic Management evolving in Europe? Are Industrial Partnerships really the way forward? Is FAB regulation still relevant? What does the future hold? We interview the Co-Chairs of the DANUBE FAB Strategy and Planning Standing Committee to take stock, and assess the direction of FABs.
DANUBE FAB is an increasingly flexible partnership. Its benefits confined neither to its borders nor to SES implementation. Read about our response to the political crises in the Middle-East as the Eastern gateway to Europe, and our role in contributing to a seamless European airspace through inter-FAB cooperation.
We hope you enjoy reading this newsletter, and wish you a pleasant summer season!
South Eastern Europe Night Free Route Airspace (SEEN FRA)
A stepwise approach based on regional initiatives is vital in building experience to overcome the complexities involved in moving towards a seamless European airspace.
The recently initiated cross border Night FRA project between the States of Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria represents such a step. Bridging the airspace between the two Functional Airspace Blocks of FAB CE and DANUBE FAB by spring 2017 will allow Airspace Users complete freedom to plan routes throughout the combined airspace of the three nations at night, paving the way for future expansion.

All EU Member States have until the end of 2021 to implement FRA within their own airspace. To date, whilst 66% of European Area Control Centres (ACCs) have implemented FRA to some extent, only 16% have full 24h FRA, and only 25% represent cross border initiatives, both of which are required to allow Airspace Users complete freedom in planning their routes in order to maximise benefits (Figure above).

Current statistics represent a good start, yet achieving FRA across large sections of Europe as promised by a number of wide reaching partnerships brings significant challenges which should not be underestimated (Table above). It is wise to overcome these barriers through a number of well-defined and achievable milestones initially based on regional cooperation, as opposed to a “big bang” implementation.

The DANUBE FAB and HungaroControl (member of FAB CE) partnership to extend their FRA projects represents a concrete step in this direction (Figure above). With dedicated project teams assigned, the Concept of Operations and the implementation plan have been drafted and agreed, and Air Traffic Management System testing is currently underway between the three ANSPs, in preparation for implementation by spring 2017.
This project will generate cost savings for Airspace Users in terms of distance flown, time taken and fuel consumed, as well as reducing environmental impact.
On top of these direct benefits, the lessons learned from this trilateral inter-FAB initiative and the shared experience from each ANSP’s FRA projects will give great opportunities to expand both the geographical scope and hours of operation, as ANSPs collectively improve flight efficiency for Airspace Users.
DANUBE FAB: The Eastern Gateway to Europe
The benefits of a FAB are not confined to SES implementation – The structures and relationships built from these permanent partnerships are able to deal with a range of issues. DANUBE FAB forms an important link between the East and West, which enabled compromises to be made in managing critical airspace developments triggered by the political crises in the Middle-East.
A 5000km arc of total or partial restrictions across the Near and Middle East heavily inhibit global air traffic. For Eastern Europe, the avoidance of Ukrainian airspace since the start of the political crisis, coupled with the closure of Syrian and Iraqi airspace in April 2014 has had a particularly heavy impact in the area (Figure below).


Major East – West traffic routes now overfly Turkey directly into DANUBE FAB as the Eastern gateway to Europe, leading to an average rise in overflights of 15% within DANUBE FAB (Figure above), with some sectors reporting an increase of 80% compared to a European average of 1.5%. A bottleneck at the main crossing point for westbound traffic into Europe at the interface between Turkey and DANUBE FAB therefore generated 115,000 minutes of delay in 2015. This accounted 1.5% of the total delay in European airspace, in a region which typically reports none.
The Turkish proposal to split the affected traffic into two separate routes was designed to reduce, or eliminate the capacity delays in the area. However, air traffic routes do not end at national boundaries, so reorganizing such a busy route shifted potential problems in the core of DANUBE FAB, rather than resolving the issue entirely. A coordinated approach was required between the Romanian, Bulgarian and Turkish Air Traffic Services, the Network Manager and ICAO in order to distribute benefits and constraints safely and fairly between the three States involved whilst ensuring capacity for Airspace Users.

The proposed reorganisation is expected to re-distribute complexity within DANUBE FAB’s sectors (Table above). The effective FAB structures facilitated dynamic coordination between ROMATSA and BULATSA, allowing both sides to reach a compromise in the form of a temporary agreement which ensures adequate capacity in the Black Sea area. The reorganisation will be monitored and evaluated using FAB mechanisms in light of 2016 operations, followed by proposed improvements for 2017.
The routes, published on 28th April 2016, to date have generated 0 minutes of ATFM delay. The full effectiveness of the airspace reorganisation will be evaluated by comparing the 2016 summer season traffic values to summer 2015.
With growing traffic from emerging economies and continuing political crises across the Middle East, 2015-16 has demonstrated that the bridge between East and West is as important as ever. DANUBE FAB has a crucial role to play as the Eastern gateway to Europe.
Taking Stock: The Directions of FABs
An Interview with the Co-Chairs of the DANUBE FAB Strategy and Planning Standing Committee

Adrian FLOREA
SAPSC Co-Chair for ROMATSA
Operational Project Manager ATM 2015+ at ROMATSA

Veselin STOYANOV
SAPSC Co-chair for BULATSA
Director European Programmes Projects and Strategy at BULATSA
ANSPs look in much the same way as they always have. Why is that? Is the ATM environment changing, and how should ANSPs respond?
Adrian Florea: Air Traffic Management has always been a conservative trade, and it has good reason to be. We are dealing with aircraft flying at hundreds of miles per hour and the last thing you should try is to experiment every now and then. The reasons to be careful about change lie deep within safety culture. The established model ensures the sovereignty of national airspace and protects a complex, skilled and safety critical industry.
However, things are changing and many European States are taking a leap in progressing towards higher performance models. We’ve heard about privatisation, new technologies or competition to drive efficiency, as well as new partnership arrangements between ANSPs and suppliers. Consolidation of services is another trend and here in the DANUBE FAB we have reduced the number of ACCs to drive cost savings and increase productivity.
With the wide consensus that ATM needs modernising, an increasing number of ANSPs are working towards a new future in providing services in a global marketplace. Benefits of these investments may bear fruit in the near future, ANSPs who do not respond quickly to this trend may find themselves too far behind.

Veselin Stoyanov: Partnerships look like an increasingly attractive option to manage risk, lower costs, share experience and increase influence. Concluding that industrial partnerships are better ways to deliver change than a FAB, however, is too simplistic. New industrial partnerships are expected to show benefits because they are flexible arrangements designed for a specific goal based on a positive business case, the drivers are there.
FABs on the other hand are mature and powerful vehicles capable of fundamental change, but arguably have not yet “had their day” as the drivers for such change simply have not been strong enough. FABs are long standing and robust partnerships between neighbours with mature working relationships, often in similar stages of development, permanently bound by State-level agreements between national governments. As the ATM environment continues to evolve in favour of reform, the political will to make better use of FABs may be just around the corner.

Veselin Stoyanov: It is difficult to find focus when FAB regulation does not provide any well-defined objectives for what a FAB should achieve. FABs have therefore evolved into wide, all-encompassing initiatives with a lack of direction. Going past the literal text of FAB regulation to appreciate its underlying goal is helping DANUBE FAB to concentrate on quality, not quantity.
For DANUBE FAB, projects which are enabled by geographical proximity is a current focus, acting as the European gateway and expansion of cross border FRA are the most recent examples of this, providing tangible benefits to Airspace Users.
Looking to the future, DANUBE FAB aims to increase the openness and flexibility of the partnership, aware of which initiatives should be pursued together and which should be conducted individually to foster trust between partners and ensure a win/win for both parties. Identifying projects which are new to both ANSPs is far better than attempting to harmonise many deeply ingrained processes within each ANSP which are difficult to untangle.
Partnerships which stand out are those who are bold and create a unique path. With European ATM becoming increasingly competitive, the race is on.

The eleventh DANUBE FAB Social Consultation Forum (SCF) was held in Romania on 26 May 2016. The meeting promoted social dialogue within the FAB and ensured that attention was given to the social issues arising from DANUBE FAB’s implementation. These regular consultations increase the mutual understanding between the social partners and their national member organizations ROMATSA and BULATSA.
The meeting was co-chaired by Mr. Fanica CARNU, Director General, ROMATSA and by Mr. Georgi PEEV, Director General, BULATSA. Both director generals encouraged social partners to participate actively in the meeting, noting the many recent operational changes to be discussed and the importance of social dialogue between all parties involved.
The staff representative bodies of the two ANSPs were presented with current FAB developments, particularly activities since the last Social Consultation Forum. Efficient operations in the DANUBE FAB Cross Border Sectors and the evolution of DANUBE FAB Free Route Airspace were both key topics of discussion.
In particular, the effects of the recent re-organisation of the airspace over the Black Sea was debated. Whist allowing major capacity gains across the region, the traffic changes will challenge ATCO workload over the summer season. Constructive discussions to resolve these issues were held, which will be followed up under the operational committees of the DANUBE FAB.
Having in mind that the Strategic Program 2016-2020 and the Annual Plan for 2016 were adopted by the Governing Council, discussions took place regarding the status of planned activities, focusing primarily on the high-priority projects such as the DANUBE FAB RP2 Performance Plan, common procurements and technical rationalization and infrastructure.
The next SCF meeting will be held in second half of 2016 in the Republic of Bulgaria, following the eight meetings of the DANUBE FAB ANSP Board and Governing Council.

The management of ROMATSA and BULATSA met in Bucharest on 20th April for the seventh meeting of the Air Navigation Services Providers (ANSP) Board.
The co-chairs of the two ANSPs underlined their joint commitment to organizing air traffic management within the airspace of the DANUBE FAB and pointed the significant efforts invested from both sides to enable the route network to be updated to cope with the large increases in traffic predicted for the 2016 summer season.
Also, the management of the two ANSPs noted with satisfaction the close and long standing relationship within the FAB, and wished for the pragmatic cooperation to continue in order to continue the improvement of operations in DANUBE FAB airspace.
Mr. Alain Siebert, Chief Economist and Master Planning from the SESAR Joint Undertaking (SJU) was welcomed to the meetings, and presented an overview of recent SESAR developments and future priorities, along with potential opportunities for DANUBE FAB, noting that forging a growing relationship between the SJU and FABs is a priority for the SJU.

The tenth DANUBE FAB Social Consultation Forum (SCF) took place in Borovets, Bulgaria on 15th & 16th December 2015. The aim of the meeting was to promote the social dialogue and to ensure that attention is given to the social issues arising from the DANUBE FAB implementation.
The DANUBE FAB social partners were informed of the outcomes of the last ANSP Board and Governing Council Meetings, and the recent regulatory FAB developments including the dropping of infringement proceedings against the FAB along with the status of the RP2 performance plan.
The recent focus on cooperation with regional and pan European partners was presented. This included the successful Inter-FAB coordination workshop hosted by DANUBE FAB in Bucharest, recently signed ANSP cooperation agreements and the proposed plans to investigate FAB enlargement.
The social partners were briefed on the high priority initiatives, including DANUBE FAB’s technical domain’s plans to provide seamless surveillance coverage across the border, and enhanced cross border operations building on the jointly procured communication system. The outcomes of the recent successful Real Time Simulations for Free Route Airspace held at EUROCONTROL’s Experimental Centre were presented, detailed results of which will be published in the beginning of 2016.
The participants also took a wider look at recent SES developments including SESAR Deployment, Network Functions and the Performance scheme, discussing opportunities for DANUBE FAB to jointly participate in various European Initiatives.
The next SCF meeting will be hosted in Romania in the first half of 2016

BULATSA and ROMATSA are currently performing a series of real-time simulations for the development and implementation of Free Route Airspace (FRA) in DANUBE FAB. The objective of these simulations is to determine the conditions under which FRA operations can be extended beyond night hours safely and efficiently, within an acceptable controller workload.
FRA will allow airspace users to freely plan a route between entry and exit points without having to adhere to a fixed route network, therefore optimising flight paths and reducing environmental impact and cost. Free Routing is already implemented in both FAB states at night, and the RTS aimed to support its extension to full time operations planned for 2019.
With this occasion, BULATSA and ROMATSA welcomed visitors to observe the simulations on 5th November, which are being performed at EUROCONTROL’s Experimental Centre in Bretigny. Representatives of the State authorities on transport, military and civil aviation authorities from both DANUBE FAB States, together with neighbouring ANSPs were in attendance to take part in the simulation activities, share experiences of Free Route implementations so far, and learn about the recent developments of DANUBE FAB.
Commenting on the project benefits, Mr Georgi Peev, BULATSA Director General noted: “The flights through Bulgaria and Romania will become faster, safer and cheaper as the airlines will plan their own air routes to fly. The free routes are a prelude to the elimination of the air borders in Europe”.
The results of the FRA simulations will be published in December 2015. Co-financed by the European Union with funding from the Trans-Europeean Transport Network (TEN-T, now INEA), the simulations are part of a larger set of activities which aim to support the implementation of the SESAR Interim Deployment Program within DANUBE FAB.