Sixth meetings of the DANUBE FAB Governing Bodies in Sofia

The DANUBE FAB Governing Bodies held their sixth meetings on 27th and 28th October 2015 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
The ANSP Board meeting was co-chaired by Mr Georgi Peev (Director General, BULATSA) and Mr Carnu Fanica (Director General, ROMATSA). In the welcome address, Mr Peev expressed DANUBE FAB’s commitment and strong collaboration in responding to regional challenges which have caused significant shifts in traffic flows, and pointed to the many successful projects within the FAB which allowed the European Commission to close the Infringement Proceedings against the States.
A key topic for discussion was Technical Rationalisation and Infrastructure. The DANUBE FAB decided to initiate FAB level projects for seamless surveillance coverage across the border, and enhanced cross border operations building on the jointly procured communication system.
The ANSP Board were also briefed about the closure of the infringement proceedings against the DANUBE FAB, the successful Inter-FAB Coordination Workshop, signing of a working level Agreement with FAB CE, development of the RP2 Performance Plan and the upcoming Free Route Airspace Real Time Simulation activities.
The sixth meeting of the Governing Council was held on 28th October 2015, which was co-chaired by Mr. Anton Ginev, Deputy Minister of Transport, IT and Communications, Republic of Bulgaria and Mrs. Maria Magdalena Grigore, Secretary of State, Ministry of Transport for Romania. The meeting was attended by representatives of the State authorities on transport, authorities responsible for military aviation, Civil Aviation Authorities, National Supervisory Authorities and ANSPs of both countries.
The main item of the meeting was granting Observer Status to the Republic of Macedonia, who were in attendance at the meeting. As part of the DANUBE FAB Observers Policy, States are allowed to attend the Governing Council meetings. This new observer status for Macedonia, endorsed by the Governing Council, demonstrates DANUBE FAB’s commitment to cooperate with its neighbours to the fullest extent possible in order to improve the European ATM Network.
Mrs Svetlana Grigorovska, Deputy Head of Aviation Department from the Macedonian Ministry of Transport and Communications thanked the DANUBE FAB for accepting the Republic of Macedonia’s observer status and looked forward to future fruitful cooperation which this new status will provide.A further measure to increase regional cooperation is the planned pre-feasibility study for DANUBE FAB Enlargement, expected to deepen DANUBE FAB’s understanding of its current position within Eastern Europe and relationships with neighbouring third countries, providing a solid foundation to actively investigate areas for regional cooperation or integration.
The Governing Council also took note of recent developments in the FAB, along with the activities of the NSA and ANSP Boards.
The next meeting of the DANUBE FAB Governing Council will be held in the spring of 2016 in Romania.