site.btaBulgarian Airspace Gets Crowded

Bulgaria's airspace has become crowded due to the war in Ukraine, according to a piece on the website of 24 Chasa. Aircraft from Europe, the Middle and Far East fly over Bulgaria, because there are no flights over Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and Moldova. 

As a result, the Bulgarian airspace is used for flights coming from Turkey, as well by Japanese, Korean, Chinese and even Vietnamese air carriers. Bulgaria takes in redirected routes from Lifthansa, Air France, KLM and other European air carries. Even Finnish aircraft destined for Seoul fly over Bulgaria.

Georgi Peev, Director General of the Bulgarian Air Traffic Services Authority (BULATSA), says that even with space blocked to the east, air traffic controllers can manage the traffic.

Bulgarian air traffic controllers are not new to this kind of overload. In 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea air traffic was redirected to Bulgaria, increasing by 60 per cent in general and by 100 per cent over the sea.

Now in the first days of the war, the number of flights increased by 40 per cent and then fell down, but in general exceed by 15-20 per cent usual traffic.

In the first days of the war alone, an additional 4,589 aircraft flew over Bulgaria, which is an increase by 28.5 per cent. Over the weekends their number reaches up to 2,200 in 24 hours and that's before the summer peak, says Peev. He expects that over 3,000 planes will be handled daily in the summer.

Additional traffic is generated because of the New Istanbul Airport, which ranks first in the number of taking off and landing aircraft in Europe, exceeding traffic at Heathrow, Frankfurt and Paris.

It is Bulgarian air traffic controllers that chart the landing routes for planes and guide their descent from the Bulgarian airspace in order to help their Turkish colleagues.

The busiest traffic is on the border with Turkey where planes are both ascending and descending and flying at different altitude at the same time and place which requires a lot of experience on the part of air traffic controllers.

The way Bulgarian air traffic controllers are handling the situation has made EUROCONTROL Director General Eamonn Brennan thank Georgi Peev recently.

"Life for Bulgarian air traffic controllers has got more difficult. The traffic is busier and more complicated. We are blocked to the east and Cyprus, Greece, North Macedonia, Albania and Serbia have problems with their capacity, can't take enough traffic and it is redirected to Turkey and Bulgaria. But traffic in Turkey is moving in one stream, while here in Bulgaria we divide it for Serbia and Romania. In effect we are like a distribution station. When countries around us can't cope we take the planes and we distribute them," says Peev. 

Air carriers choose the Bulgarian airspace also due to the safety systems, the measures for investigation of accidents and the well-trained teams.

Using mathematical models and analyses Bulgaria's airspace is divided in such a way that it allows letting in the largest possible traffic. Delays are generally a sign whether Bulgarian air traffic control can handle such a volume of traffic. There are no delays over Bulgaria unlike other large European countries.

'We have introduced such systems which control traffic without delay. And we have trained enough controllers, who can handle the increased traffic," says Peev.

Bulgaria has planned the most optimal routes so that planes can fly the shortest distance. 

Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Moldova have joined their airspace. From Bulgaria a plane will fly directly to Slovakia using the shortest route which also reduces pollution.

Bulgaria also offers competitive prices for air traffic control services. The basic charging rate is 36 euro and it is multiplied for every overflying plane depending on flight time, distance and weight.

If a comparison is made with neighbouring countries, Cyprus and Greece have delays due to insufficient capacity, while North Macedonia, Serbia and Romania have much higher overflight fees.

"Our service is cheaper because we have found the optimal balance between the individual components. We have good conditions for air traffic controllers and we have invested in technology which provides us with enough capacity," says Peev.

"Our service is safe, it doesn't generate delays, planes are guided along the optimal routes and it is among the cheapest in Europe," according to Peev. The Bulgarian air traffic control authority is among Europe's top three most effective along with that of Malta and Ireland but they are handling much less traffic.

The quality of its work has also been acknowledged by the European Commission which approved its Flight Efficiency Pan, the most important thing in air navigation services. Currently, 17 EU countries have approved plans. Germany which generates large delays in its airspace has asked Bulgaria informally for advice on how to secure approval for its plan.