NATS Training Bulgarian Air Traffic Controllers

NATS, a leading air navigation services provider, has won a contract to train Bulgarian air traffic controllers at its state-of-the-art facility near Fareham in Hampshire, England.

Initially, nine trainee controllers from the Bulgarian Air Traffic Services Authority (BULATSA) are attending a ten-month course at NATS’ headquarters and these are likely to be followed by a further nine trainees on a similar course in 2017.

The formal contract of engagement also provides for NATS to review BULATSA’s emergency procedures and provide training for the Bulgarian authority’s in-house trainers.

Although BULATSA currently has the capacity to train ten air traffic controllers each year, demand for the group’s air traffic management services has grown in the face of a 23% annual rise in the number of aircraft flying over Bulgaria since the introduction of flight restrictions in Ukrainian airspace.

“BULATSA is a progressive and robust company experiencing an acute growth in demand for its air traffic management services,” said Martin Rolfe, CEO at NATS. “NATS is proud to be working in close co-operation alongside the group’s in-house trainers, enabling BULATSA to increase the number of suitably qualified air traffic controllers available to meet the demands of its increasingly busy airspace.”

BULATSA is a state-owned enterprise responsible for the planning and development of Bulgaria’s national air traffic management system.

The group operates an area control centre in the capital, Sofia, where BULATSA’s NATS-trained air traffic controllers will work once qualified, and a further four local control centres at airports serving the Bulgarian cities of Varna, Burgas, Plovdiv and Gorna Oryahovitsa.

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