Bulgaria, Romania Move Closer to Joint Skies

By December 2012, Bulgaria and Romania will have a joint airspace bloc through a project financed by the European Commission. Photo by BGNES

The heads of the Bulgarian and Romanian Air Traffic Services met in Sofia to discuss the DANUBE FAB project, making an important step forward in its realization.

The Director General of the Bulgarian State Air Traffic Services Authority, Diyan Dinev, and his Romanian counterpart, Bogdan Donciu, President of ROMATSA, held talks Wednesday and Thursday to align their future joint action s for the management of the project in order to adhere to the December 4, 2012 EU deadline of establishing of a Functional Airspace Block in the airspace of Romania and Bulgaria.

The project entered a crucial stage after February 26, 2010, when during the official visit to Bulgaria of the Romanian government delegation, led by Prime Minister, Emil Boc, the Bulgarian Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, Aleksander Tsvetkov and the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Romania, Radu Mircea Berceanu, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in Air Navigation Services, and for the establishment of a Functional Airspace Block, comprising the national airspace of Bulgaria, the national airspace of Romania and the airspace included in the scope of the international legal obligations of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania (DANUBE FAB).

The DANUBE FAB Project has been approved for financial aid (Phase 1/Stage 2, Phase 2 and 3) with funds granted by the European Commission (EC) under the trans-European transport networks (TEN-T) program. The decision of the EC, published in September 2009, grants EUR 2,515,784 in total, 50% to Bulgaria and 50% to Romania respectively.

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