21st Meetings of the DANUBE FAB Governing Bodies

As the aviation industry faces an ever-evolving landscape with increasing demands in the region, with a shared vision for safer, more efficient skies and a commitment to sustainability, Tuesday, October 24th and Wednesday, 25th October 2023, the DANUBE FAB Governing Bodies met in Bucharest for their 21st meetings.

In its usual display of cooperation, the DANUBE FAB ANSP Board held yesterday the 21st bi-annual meeting that brought together decision-making and key experts from ROMATSA and BULATSA. They were briefed on of the progress of the latest round of DANUBE FAB strategic planning and reporting, status of the FAB procurements, InterFAB coordination activities and the progress of the FAB High Priority projects, thus exploring new avenues of collaboration and improve air traffic management on a regional scale.

The agenda also centered on several topics such as ongoing SES developments, planned joint exercises in SESAR 3 projects ATC-TBO and NETWORK TBO and coordination of operational matters and common activities, addressing the pressing challenges and opportunities faced regionally by the two ANSPs. The insightful discussions during this meeting resulted in potential solutions, such as the establishment of a new SESAR 3 Task Force or setting the scene for analyzing and testing of possible scenarios in order to enhance operations and thus, to reduce the workload on ATCOs.

From a social perspective, ANSP Board agreed to have the next DANUBE FAB Social Consultation Forum in the autumn of 2023 in Bulgaria.

Following the ANSP Board meeting, representatives of the Ministries of Transport, of National Supervisory Authorities and of the ANSPs from Romania and from the Republic of Bulgaria came together to align on the DANUBE FAB future goals and objectives. The Council representatives reviewed the activities carried out so far in 2023, with a specific focus on the on-going high priority projects: Free Route Airspace and InterFAB Cooperation. By applying the rotation principle, a new InterFAB Point of Contact was appointed from Romania DANUBE FAB for the next one-year term.

Members were also informed regarding the ANSP Board and NSA Board activities, so as on other activities, such as budget planning for next year and the development of the FAB strategic documents, Strategic Programme 2024-2028, Annual Report 2023 and Annual Plan 2024.

To be noted that at the 21st DANUBE FAB NSA Board meeting held on 24 October 2023 in Bucharest, the NSA of Romania and of the Republic of Bulgaria updated and signed the DANUBE FAB NSA Cooperation Agreement. The new provisions of the Agreement accurately reflect the changes in the EU legislation related to ATM/ANS oversight, as well as the potential NSA common activities for further safeguarding the air safety in the DANUBE FAB airspace.

Regarding the recent EU developments, specific updates and discussions took place, such as the status of the SES 2+ (recast) proposals and the possible impact the new requirements, participation of ROMATSA and BULATSA in the Digital European Sky Industrial Research projects, the new SESAR Deployment Manager Partnership and possible ways to find common grounds for a future collaboration.

The next round of DANUBE FAB Governing Bodies meetings are planned for the spring of 2024 in Bulgaria.