✈Sarajevo Airport signed transnational cooperation project for blind and partially sighted passengers

DANOVA – Innovative transportation services for blind and partially sighted passengers in Danube Region is a transnational cooperation project co-funded by Interreg Danube Transnational Program, one of the programs of the European Territorial Cooperation objective funded by the European Union. The aim of DANOVA project is to improve the accessibility of airports, ports, trains and bus station to blind and partially sighted people by developing a set of new services and competences in order to allow them to have a full access to all transportation information and services. The project with duration of 30 months (01 July 2020 – 31 December 2022) and a total budget of 2.192.546,66 Euro brings together partners from 9 different countries motivated to work together so as to make transportation facilities more accessible.

DANOVA Participating Countries

In Europe, there are over 30 million of blind and partially sighted people who cannot travel independently as more than 96% of European transport system, especially in Danube Region, is still not totally accessible to people with visual impairments. Many blind and partially sighted passengers find it extremely difficult, and in some cases even impossible, to use conventional transportation such as airplanes, railways or urban public transportation. Reasons for this are various: blind and partially sighted passengers do not have equal access to up-to-date visual or written information regarding transportation; personnel is often not trained to support and adequately communicate with blind and partially sighted passengers; there is a lack of adequately accessible infrastructure; differences among national legislations about accessibility exist from country to county etc. In all Danube Region, there is an increasing demand from organizations working and representing blind and partially sighted people to set up new services which will make the environment of transport facilities more inclusive and accessible, and where the blind passengers will be treated as equals.

DANOVA’s goal is to meet this need by producing several concrete and tangible outputs through an integrative and transnational approach:

• International investigation on best solutions to be transferred in Danube Region;
• Capitalisation Strategy to support decision makers to transfer the identified solutions in an efficient way;
• Involvement of stakeholders in the design process of a new transnational concept of a totally accessible transportation system to blind and partially sighted passengers in Danube Region;
• Testing of innovative solutions in involved territories;
• Equipping the personnel on how to use new services and how to adequately assist and communicate with blind passengers.

The consortium of 14 partners is led by Dubrovnik Airport (Croatia). The consortium is well-balanced in terms of involvement of airports, ports, research institutions, local authorities and associations representing blind people: Airport Bratislava, Budapest Airport, Centre for Budapest Transport, University of Maribor, Bulgarian Association for Transfer and Technology Innovation, Croatian Blind Union, Austrian Federation of the Blind and Partially Sighted, Dubrovnik Port Authority, Municipality of Maribor, Airports of Montenegro, Port of Kotor, Sarajevo International Airport, Moldova Association of the Blind. The project involves also 4 associated partners: Slovak Blind and Partially Sighted Union, Ljubljana Airport, Civil Aviation Authority of the Republic of Moldova and DEX Innovation Centre.

Project details:

Project number: 543

Start date: 01.07.2020

End Date: 31.12.2022

Total budget: 2.192.546,66 Euro

ERDF contribution: 1.739.970,00 Euro

IPA II contribution: 362.130,00 Euro

ENI-MD contribution: 90.446,66 Euro 

Source: Sarajevo International Airport

✈BHANSA is fully compliant with EU regulations in the field of air navigation

The inspection by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has shown that Bosnia and Herzegovina Air Navigation Services Agency (BHANSA) is fully compliant and air navigation services are provided as required by Bosnia and Herzegovina  and European Union regulations in the field of air navigation. 

BHANSA main office building in Sarajevo

On October 03. 2019, inspectors of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) accompanied by inspectors of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Directorate of Civil Aviation carried out a comprehensive standardization inspection of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Air Navigation Services Agency in the field of air navigation.

Inspection was carried out in Banja Luka where Air Traffic Control Unit /Operational Unit II , Approach and Aerodrome Control Unit Banja Luka, Meteorological Watch Office, Flight Information Service – FIS and Rescue Coordination Centre – BHRCC are located.

The inspection has shown that BHANSA is fully compliant and air navigation services are provided as required by BH and EU regulations in the field of air navigation.

During the inspection, EASA inspectors visited the Ops room of Operational Unit II and Control Tower of Approach and Aerodrome Control Unit Banja Luka where they had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the work of air traffic controllers and other professional aviation staff of BHANSA in providing air navigation services.

Source: BHANSA

✈Fastest-growing country markets in Europe

In Q2 2018, Georgia was Europe’s fastest-growing country market (capacity up 28% in Q2 2018 vs Q2 2017), and it has continued its momentum into S19, with it showing to be the continent’s fourth fastest-growing market in Q2 2019. Along with Georgia, the only other markets in the top 15 for Q2 2019 growth that also appeared in the same category during Q2 2018 are North Macedonia (14% growth in Q2 2019; 17% growth in Q2 2018 versus Q2 2017), Latvia (12%; 19%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (11,1%) and Hungary (8.2%; 15%). Of the countries listed in the top 15, only one appears in the top 15 ranking for most seats, with Portugal being Europe’s 12th largest market regarding total departing seats in Q2 2019. The top markets remain the UK (3.1% growth in Q2 2019), followed by Spain (3.7%), Germany (2.0%), Italy (5.9%) and France (5.2%). 

Ryanair remains the top airline on the continent, with it growing its seat capacity by 7.6% in Q2 2019, which represent just under 2.88 million additional departing seats versus the same quarter of 2018. easyJet is growing ever so slightly faster than Ryanair, but when it comes to net seat increase, it is only adding 2.17 million, less than the number being added by Ryanair.

The fastest-growing airline among Europe’s top operators is Wizz Air, with it showing an 18% rise in its departing seat capacity during Q2 2019, a result of it operating an additional 1.68 million departing seats. Regarding the other end of the spectrum, Air France, SAS, Norwegian, Eurowings and Pegasus Airlines are all showing declines in the number of seats they’re operating during Q2 2019, with Norwegian seeing the greatest cut at 5.0%. For Norwegian, its capacity has been reduced in the short-haul market, with it posting a 6.7% cut in this sector. However, it does continue to push its long-haul agenda, with data showing that it has increased its long-haul capacity during Q2 2019 by 21%. While this is impressive, the carrier’s long-haul operations still only account for 5.9% of all seats it operates during the period, although this has grown from a share of 4.6% posted in Q2 2018.

Source:Anna aero

✈BHANSA CEO Receives European Commission's Single European Sky award

Bosnia and Herzegovina Air Navigation Services Agency (BHANSA) has won this year's European Commission's Single European Sky award in the Network Performance category at the world congress of air navigation service providers in Madrid (World ATM Congress) for SECSI FRA (The South East Common Sky Initiative Free Route Airspace), project realized with partner agencies from Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia and Austria.

The prestigious award of Single European Sky is given to BHANSA CEO Mr Davorin Primorac.

BHANSA CEO Mr Davorin Primorac

SECSI FRA project developed by merging the free routes airspaces of SEAFRA (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia) and SAXFRA (Austria and Slovenia), went operational on 01 February 2018.

SECSI FRA project offers the shortest route options from Central Europe to South Eastern Europe to airspace users.  Potential savings per day are up to 1.940 NM in flight distance, 285 minutes in flight time, a reduction in fuel consumption of 8,000 kg and a reduction in CO2 emissions of 25,500kg.

„This award is a major achievment for BHANSA, as the youngest service provider in Europe, which makes us proud because this shows that we’re on the right path. SECSI FRA is the next important step towards Free Route airspace across all of Europe. Step by Step, Single European Sky is becoming a reality, and Bosnia and Herzegovina is part of it, "said Mr Davorin Primorac.

EUROCONTROL has initiated the coordinated development and implementation of Free Route Space, in close cooperation with civil and military experts in airspace design, European countries, air navigation service providers, airspace users, flight planning organizations and other relevant international bodies.

BHANSA has been actively involved in these activities, and award received is a confirmation of committed and successful work.

Source: BHANSA

✈EASA suspends all Boeing 737 Max operations in Europe

Following the tragic accident of Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 involving a Boeing 737 MAX 8, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is taking every step necessary to ensure the safety of passengers. 

As a precautionary measure, EASA has published today an Airworthiness Directive, effective as of 19:00 UTC, suspending all flight operations of all Boeing Model 737-8 MAX and 737-9 MAX aeroplanes in Europe. In addition EASA has published a Safety Directive, effective as of 19:00 UTC, suspending all commercial flights performed by third-country operators into, within or out of the EU of the above mentioned models.

The accident investigation is led by the Ethiopian Authorities with the support of the National Transportation Safety Board, as the aircraft was designed and built in the United States. EASA has offered their assistance in supporting the accident investigation.

EASA is continuously analysing the data as it becomes available. The accident investigation is currently ongoing, and it is too early to draw any conclusions as to the cause of the accident.

Source :European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)

✈ECAA Agreement has entered into force

The multilateral agreement between the European Community and its Member States and Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Iceland, Montenegro, Norway, Romania, Serbia and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1244 of 10 June 1999) on the establishment of a European common aviation area (ECAA) has officially entered into force today, 1 December 2017, after the EU concluded its internal legislative procedures, even though it had been signed as long ago as 2006.The goal of this Agreement is to create a European common aviation area (ECAA) based on free market access, freedom of establishment, equal conditions of competition, and common rules, including in the areas of safety, security, air traffic management and environment.

Although the Agreement, which has entered into force today, includes a phased, full harmonisation of the national regulations of the Signatory States with the European Union regulations in the field of civil aviation, the BHDCA has in the past years made significant progress in the transposition of the regulations and their implementation into the legislative framework of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has been confirmed on several occasions by inspections carried out by European Commission representatives.

As for the forthcoming period, it is expected that the European Commission will adopt, and submit to the Signatory States, an updated list of the regulations, procedures and activities that must be implemented by the BHDCA and by other institutions as well.

In addition, the entry into force of the ECAA Agreement grants larger powers and influence to the European Commission with regards to the civil aviation processes in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

For this reason, the BHDCA will organise meetings with representatives of the aviation industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as with representatives of the other institutions involved in the decision-making and rule-making processes in B&H, with the aim to familiarise them with the activities to be implemented so that Bosnia and Herzegovina could complete its obligations under Phase I of the Agreement as soon as possible.

By conclusion of Phase I of the Agreement, conditions will be created for the BHDCA to be accredited by the European Commission, resulting in the recognition of the licences and certificates issued by the BHDCA in all EU countries and Signatory States to the Agreement.

Bosnia and Herzegovina signed the Agreement on 9 June 2006 and ratified it on 19 July 2007.

ECAC Member Countries are: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Ukraine and United Kingdom.

You can download the ECAA Agreement HERE.

Source: Bosnia and Herzegovina Directorate for Civil Aviation (BHDCA)

✈EUROCONTROL congratulates the Directorate of Civil Aviation of Bosnia and Herzegovina on reaching its twentieth anniversary!

Banja Luka, Bosnia & Herzegovina – On 12 September Frank Brenner, Director General EUROCONTROL, joined distinguished guests from European ATM to celebrate 20 years of the Directorate of Civil Aviation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHDCA).

Mr. Brenner noted that in that time, Bosnia and Herzegovina had joined EUROCONTROL to become its 32nd member in 2004, playing a key role in European ATM within an Organisation that now counts on 41 Member States as well as two Comprehensive Agreement States in the shape of Israel and Morocco. 

Looking back on a highly successful partnership, Mr. Brenner congratulated BDHCA for its tireless work in developing a regulatory and safety framework, and for its achievement in creating FABCE, a functional airspace block aimed at jointly improving performance, which has seen the successful introduction of Free Route Airspace above flight level 310.

“There are over 300,000 flights a year in the skies of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, noted Mr. Brenner, “and that figure is set to increase to close to 400,000 over the next seven years.  The south-east axis is vitally important to the European network, and it is essential that each country provides the capacity required for the region as a whole. EUROCONTROL and Bosnia Herzegovina are partners in this with very real success. We at EUROCONTROL, are proud to have supported Bosnia & Herzegovina in implementing European Single Sky Regulations that separate oversight of the DGCA with operations in the newly founded BHANSA. The staff of EUROCONTROL Directorate Pan-European Single Sky and the Network Manager provide support on a wide range of areas, from training to detailed planning for the implementation of the new ATM arrangements for the country.  It’s an effective and productive partnership, as demonstrated by the fact that 48 airspace design improvement packages were implemented between 2009 and 2017.” 

Mr. Đorđe Ratkovica, BHDCA Director General, said: “BHDCA would not have been able to realise such a complex project, implemented in the whole territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, without the enormous assistance we received from the international aviation institutions: ICAO, EUROCONTROL, CEATS Strategy Planning and Development Unit and their experts and also from the EU delegation to BiH and the EBRD Office in BiH. Therefore, our heartfelt thanks go to all of them as well as to each individual participant in the implementation of the BHATM project”.

The ceremony was opened by His Excellency Dr. Branko Dokić, special representative of Dr Mladen Ivanić, Member of the BH Presidency and former BH minister of communication and transport, with key speeches delivered by His Excellency Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, President of the ICAO Council; Mr. Frank Brenner, Director General EUROCONTROL, Mr. Salvatore Sciacchitano, ECAC Executive Secretary; and Mr. Victor Aguado, former EUROCONTROL Director General.

For further information, please contact:

Lucia Pasquini,

Corporate Communications

Tel: +32 2 729 3420

E-mail: press@eurocontrol.int

www.eurocontrol.int

✈ Mostar airport investments for the future

Currently, work is in progress on expansion and modernization of the terminal building of Mostar International Airport. The work on terminal expansion is worth 250.000 Euros, and it's financed by the European Union IPA (Pre-Accession Assistance) funds for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Mostar Airport is one of the partners in the project called ADRISTARTER (Advanced Development of Macroregional Infrastructures and Services for Transport and Accessibility of Residents, Tourists and Enterprises) that aims to consolidate reliable, smart and integrated transportation systems by developing and modernizing the existing multimodal physical infrastructure and services. As a pilot project, Mostar Airport will within ADRISTARTER project, among others, implement the extension of the Terminal building, adapting it for people with reduced mobility, and acquire an ambulance vehicle for airport medical unit. The work on the terminal expansion  is scheduled to be completed by the end of February.

Terminal building (airside) before renovation

Terminal building (airside)  after renovation

Government of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in its Air Transport Strategy for period 2017-2030. plans to invest 15 million Bosnian marks (7,6 million Euros) in Mostar airport development.

Last week of January, Mostar airport held talks with Eurowings about possible flights from Germany to Mostar. City of Mostar and the Government of Herzegovina-Neretva County have allocated 230.000 Euros to support the air service from the city. Mostar airport is awaiting a decision of the German low-cost carrier Eurowings on establishing flights between Stuttgart  and Mostar twice a week.

Source: Flying Bosnian 

✈ Mostar Airport terminal reconstruction

Mostar Airport terminal building after reconstruction

European Union funds (€250.000)

Mostar International Airport has received 250.000 Euros from IPA funds (IPA is European Union Pre-Accession Assistance). Currently works are in progress on the terminal building of the airport, which should be completed by the beginning of December. The building will have a much larger space, increasing terminals capacity of passenger’s flow. In addition to the reconstruction of the terminal building, the airport purchased the ambulance vehicle, which is necessary for the safety of passengers.

Mostar Airport terminal building after reconstruction

Government of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina funds (€ 1 million) 

Mostar International Airport has received funds from theMinistry of Transport and Communications of the Federation of Bosnia andHerzegovina. The funds are invested in the purchase of new equipment:

• Fire truck
• Elevator for loading and offloading disabled passengers from the aircraft
• Equipment for improvement of the security at the airport

✈ ACI EUROPE: 2015 Airport Traffic Report

European airport trade association, ACI EUROPE released its traffic report for 2015. This is the only air transport report which includes all types of civil aviation passenger flights to and from Europe: full service, low cost, charter and others. 

Passenger traffic across the European airport network in 2015 grew by an average +5.2%.  

At EU airports, the average increase in passenger traffic was +5.6% with airports in Ireland, Portugal, Greece, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and Lithuania achieving double-digit growth. Meanwhile, non-EU airports reported diminished growth of +3.9%. This was mainly due to a significant decline in demand for air travel across Russian and Ukrainian airports, as well as almost flat growth in Norway – despite a stellar increase in passenger traffic in Iceland and sustained growth at most Turkish airports.  

Freight traffic at Europe’s airports only grew by +0.7%, as international trade remained subdued. Aircraft movements saw an increase of +2.2%.  

Olivier Jankovec, Director General ACI EUROPE said “2015 has been a very good year in terms of passenger traffic, with European airports welcoming an estimated 1,95 billion passengers. 20% of them achieved a double-digit increase and many broke new traffic records – mostly fueled by the continued growth of low cost airlines and selected non-EU airlines. EU airports generally performed extremely well, despite Germany and France being impacted by airline & ATC strikes and the Paris terror attacks. Remarkably, Istanbul-Atatürk airport became the 3rd busiest European airport with 61,8 million passengers, after London-Heathrow (74,9 million) and Paris-Charles de Gaulle (65,7 million). It should be noted however that small regional airports* across the continent underperformed the European average, with their passenger volume only increasing by +3,8%. This is indicative of traffic growth becoming more concentrated and less inclusive." 

    

COMPARING 2008 AND 2015 

Commenting on the air traffic recovery since the global financial crisis, Jankovec added: “While the EU economy did not even grow by +3% between 2008 and 2015, passenger traffic at EU airports increased by +13,6% over the same period. Such a wide gap is pointing to a lasting discontinuity in the usual relationship between GDP growth and passenger traffic performance. This is reflective of new market dynamics, changing consumer behaviors and the increased importance of air transport for the European economy.” 

CURRENT OUTLOOK 

Looking at the outlook for the coming months, Jankovec concluded: “The positive momentum created by improving economic conditions in the Eurozone, low oil prices and loose monetary policy is likely to persist for most of 2016. This should help keep passenger traffic growing - except for Russian airports. However, downside risks abound, and they are mainly of a geopolitical nature – both homegrown and external. These range from the unprecedented migration crisis and its repercussions on Schengen to the UK Brexit, heightened terrorist threats, instability in the Middle East & North Africa and deteriorating prospects in emerging markets."  

BREAKDOWN BY TRAFFIC CATEGORY 

Over the full year, airports welcoming more than 25 million passengers per year (Group 1), airports welcoming between 10 and 25 million passengers (Group 2), airports welcoming between 5 and 10 million passengers (Group 3) and airports welcoming less than 5 million passengers per year (Group 4) reported an average adjustment +3.7%, +6.3%, +7.1% and +5.5%. 

The airports which reported the highest increases in passenger traffic during 2015 (compared with 2014) are as follows: 

• GROUP 1:  Madrid-Barajas (+12.0%), Istanbul IST (+9.1%), Amsterdam (+6.0%), London LGW and Barcelona El-Prat (+5.7%) and Rome FCO (+5.0%)  
• GROUP 2:  Istanbul SAW (19.7%), Athens (+19.1%), Dublin (+15.3%), London STN (+12.8%) and Izmir (+12.1%)  
• GROUP 3:  Milan BGY (+18.6%), Gothenburg GOT (+18.1%), Berlin SXF (+16.9%), Porto (+16.7%) and Glasgow (+12.9%)  
• GROUP 4:     Ohrid (+53.3%), Ponta Delgada (+29.5%), Astrakhan (+26.1%), Santorini/Thira (+87.6%), Cluj and Timisoara (+25.8%) 

Among the airports in the Top 5, several airports will now move to a higher traffic category for 2016.