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On 3^rd November 2021, ROMATSA and BULATSA management teams met online for the seventeenth meeting of the DANUBE FAB ANSP Board. The meeting was co-chaired by Adrian COJOC, Director General ROMATSA and by Ivan DIAKSOV, Deputy Director General Operations, BULATSA.

With a view to increasing the level of cooperation and coordination at FAB level and identifying new emerging solutions to overcome the economic and social damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to the aviation sector, the participants reviewed the key activities completed throughout 2021, whilst looking ahead with discussions on potential future implementation projects that could be completed collaboratively by the FAB.

During this meeting, attendees were updated on projects that are soon to be completed by the FAB, most notably the inclusion of Chisinau CTA in SEE FRA (South-East Free Route Airspace) on 24^th February 2022. In addition to this, the ongoing technical project to implement an extended set of OLDI messages was summarised for attendees. With a number of projects completed by DANUBE FAB in 2021, a refresh of technical documentation and projects has been completed and the proposed outputs of an internal Impact Study were presented to the Board. The Board discussed these findings in detail and is excited to see the progression DANUBE FAB can make in the coming years across a wide range of topics.

The seventeenth meeting of the DANUBE FAB Governing Council was held online on 4^th November. The meeting was co-chaired by Claudia VIRLAN, Head of ATM/ANS Department, Romanian NSA, and Hristo SHTERIONOV, Director General, Bulgarian NSA. The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministries of Transport, Civil and Military Aviation Authorities, National Supervisory Authorities and ANSPs from both countries. The Council was also pleased to welcome a delegation of observers from the Republic of North Macedonia.

The Council members reconfirmed their support to DANUBE FAB efforts to mitigate the COVID-induced severe impact on air traffic service provision resulting in a significant reduction of planned resources and discontinued solution activities. In doing so, the Council members reviewed the activities completed in 2021, looking ahead to those that have been discontinued or affected by the COVID pandemic, addressing at the same time potential future projects that could be completed jointly as a FAB. These activities focussed on our high priority projects: Free Route Airspace, Technical Rationalisation and Infrastructure, Enlargement of DANUBE FAB and InterFAB Cooperation.

The main updates focussed on the future plans of the FAB to continue to expand SEE FRA through advancing proposals made within the European Route Network Improvement Plan (ERNIP). Regarding future DANUBE FAB projects, members of the Council provided feedback on an internal Impact Study which shall help set to way forward for the FAB in the coming years, beginning with the Strategic Programme 2022-2026, due to be publicly released in early 2022.

Members discussed the main ongoing regulatory initiatives taking place at European level and their potential impact on the FAB. The SES 2+ recast proposals and the adapted Performance and Charging scheme were discussed and shall continue to be monitored as they progress. In addition to this, the Governing Council was informed of the InterFAB activities undertaken by the FAB in recent months and was also supportive of the research workshop on Resilience in ATM, due to be held in Sofia in September 2022.

Finally, the Governing Council was briefed on the status of the FAB procurements and the NSA Board Activity Report.

The next round of DANUBE FAB Governing Bodies meetings are planned for the spring of 2022.

BULATSA Director General, Mr. Georgi Peev, participated at CANSO 25th Annual General Meeting and Executive Summit, which took place on 25 October 2021 prior to the opening of the World ATM Congress  (WATMC), the world’s largest international air traffic management event operated by CANSO in partnership with the Air Traffic Control Association (ATCA) between 26 and 28 October in Madrid, Spain.

These CANSO events kick started the activities related to the WATMC and provided a first opportunity since the pandemic began for CANSO Member CEOs to meet in person. Discussions were focused on the environmental impact of aviation, as well as on CANSO new vision for future skies for all airspace users developed in collaboration with leaders from across the aviation spectrum.

BULATSA DG also attended WATMC 2021 showcasing the latest ATM technological developments and solutions as well as the tendencies in the ATM industry with the attendance of leading product developers, experts, stakeholders, and air navigation service providers from 110 countries and 170 exhibitors

The SESAR deployment project 2015_217_AF4 was successfully completed by BULATSA. The initiative implemented a traffic complexity management system in Sofia ACC, fully satisfying the requirements of PCP – Sub-AF 4.2, related to the implementation of automated support for traffic complexity assessment. The project was funded by CEF and coordinated by SESAR Deployment Manager. The new system provides FMP managers and ACC Supervisors with tools for detailed workload assessment, sector configuration optimization and local STAM evaluation. In the following years, BULATSA plans further expansion of the system in order to strengthen the integration with other internal systems and take advantage of the full palette of NM B2B services.

Bulgarian Air Traffic Services Authority (BULATSA) notifies aircraft operators and users of the Bulgarian airspace regarding the publication of Aeronautical chart 1:500 000, edition 8.0.

The chart is available free of charge only in electronic form on the corporate website of BULATSA HERE.

BULATSA received a jubilee decoration from the Federation of Science and Technical Unions in Bulgaria (FSTUB) for active, creative and union activity and the 50^-th anniversary of the enterprise. The Director General Georgi Peev was awarded with the “Golden Decoration of FSTUB” for personal contribution and merit in the Federation’s activities, at an official meeting of the aviation community dedicated to the 74^-th anniversary of Bulgarian aviation.

The passenger air transport in Bulgaria was launched on June 29 at Vrazhdebna Airport with the opening of the first line Sofia-Plovdiv-Burgas. The event was organized by the Union of Veterans of Bulgarian Civil Aviation, the Bulgarian Airlines Association, FSTUB, the Science and Technical Unions on Transport at the Air Transport Institute and with the support of BULATSA, Sofia Airport SPJSC and DG CAA.

PMI (Project Management Institute) Bulgaria presented its first yearly awards, recognizing outstanding project management achievements by nominating individuals, projects and organisations that have shined with exemplary results in project management during the last year.

BULATSA was awarded first place in the public sector category with the project for the implementation of a traffic complexity management system (tCAT project). The project also received recognition in the EU-funded category.

The tCAT system integrates information from a variety of sources to build a forecast assessment of traffic complexity in a tactical time horizon. It enables optimized management of airspace and available resources.

PМI is the world’s leading authority in project management, bringing together millions of project professionals worldwide. The organization promotes standards and best practices and provides leadership and training in order to empower people and organisations to make their ideas a reality.

The DANUBE FAB Governing Council members held their sixteenth meeting online on 28^th April. The meeting was co-chaired by Mr. Adrian FOGHIS, Secretary of State, Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, Romania and Mr. Hristo SHTERIONOV, Director General CAA Bulgaria, and attended by representatives of the Ministries of Transport, Civil and Military Aviation Authorities, National Supervisory Authorities and ANSPs from both countries. Delegates were also welcomed from the European Commission and the Republic of North Macedonia.

The Council was briefed on the progress of the latest round of DANUBE FAB strategic planning and reporting, status of the FAB procurements, the NSA Board Activity Report and the progress made on the FAB’s High Priority projects.

Participants adopted the Strategic Programme 2021 – 2025, Annual Plan 2021 and Annual Report 2020, which had been updated based on interviews with DANUBE FAB experts and project managers. These documents identified areas for developments within the FAB to enable a quick and efficient recovery from the impacts of COVID-19 and to ensure the High Priority projects are significantly progressed in 2021.

Members discussed the main ongoing regulatory initiatives taking place at European level and their potential impact on the FAB. The SES 2+ proposals and the Airspace Architecture Study Transition Plan, with a particular focus on ATM Data Services, were explored in detail. The members of the Council also recognised the impacts of COVID-19 on the FAB, for example the updates to the Performance and Charging Scheme Regulation currently being discussed to allow for revised targets to be submitted by States. Attendees expressed their gratitude to the European Commission for participating to the meeting as an Observer and hearing first-hand the challenges faced and solutions implemented by DANUBE FAB to mitigate the impact of the current crisis.

A great emphasis was also given to enlarging DANUBE FAB. The Council was pleased to hear of the intentions expressed by the representatives of the Republic of North Macedonia that by the end of 2021 a decision on the way forward will be presented to the DANUBE FAB partners.

The next round of DANUBE FAB Governing Bodies meetings are planned for late 2021.