Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina make it easier for airlines to travel through their airspace.
Air traffic control organizations from Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina decided to unite their airspaces above 9,000 meters and thus allow aircraft to freely plan and carry out their flights 24 hours a day, regardless of the division of airspace between the four countries, reports Večernji List on December 15, 2016.
Croatian Air Traffic Control says that a 24-hour concept of cross-border airspace with free route planning was inaugurated on 8 December. Aircraft which fly over Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina no longer have to go through a zig-zag route between waypoints as they did before and which were determined by separate air traffic controls in each country.
Now, they are able to fly the shortest routes possible. This means that transit time for flying through the area will be shortened, which will bring savings is fuel and will lower the pollution of the environment. The maximum possible savings are 3,400 tons of fuel, 11,000 tons of CO2 emissions and 40 tons of NOx emissions per year.
Croatian Air Traffic Control says that this is the first time that an airspace with free routes covering four countries has been introduced in Europe. They also point out that the project will bring substantial financial and environmental benefits. The idea of launching this project was conceived by experts in air traffic management from the Croatian Air Traffic Control (HKZP), the Serbian-Montenegrin Air Control (SMATSA) and BHANSA from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The goal was to increase safety and efficiency of services and bring additional environmental benefits due to reduction of fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
Activities around the concept were launched in accordance with the European Union regulation and have been implemented five years before 1 January 2022, which is the deadline for the introduction of unlimited free use of airspace above 9,000 metres across Europe. This project is one of the key achievements in the context of EU initiatives for the establishment of a single European sky, independent of national borders or boundaries of functional airspace blocks, in order to increase safety and efficiency, as well as the capacity of air traffic in Europe, concluded the Croatian Air Traffic Control.
