The Bosnia and Herzegovina Air Navigation Services Agency (BHANSA) has already taken concrete steps to address the safety risks arising from the rapid growth in unmanned aircraft traffic. BHANSA had previously informed the competent institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina about these risks and the need for a timely institutional response.
The importance of this issue for the future of European airspace was also confirmed at the 4th Sarajevo Security Conference. Major General Karsten Stoye, Head of the Civil-Military Cooperation Division at EUROCONTROL and Military Adviser to the organisation’s Director General, warned that the growing number of unmanned aircraft operating at lower altitudes will represent one of the major emerging challenges to the safety and resilience of European airspace over the next five years.
Responding to this challenge, Stoye emphasised, requires close cooperation between civil and military aviation authorities, police agencies, industry and European organisations.
BHANSA is already working on precisely such an approach. An operational plan has been prepared, envisaging action in two parallel phases. The first focuses on safety, detection and the implementation of necessary measures, while the second involves the establishment of a U-space system that will enable the safe and orderly management of unmanned aircraft traffic.
“What we are hearing today as one of the important safety issues for European airspace is something BHANSA recognised earlier and is already working on. We have an operational response prepared, as well as the necessary technical capabilities and expertise. The next institutional step now needs to be taken to enable the full development of the system. The necessary legislative solutions have been prepared, and we believe that Bosnia and Herzegovina should not delay their adoption,” said BHANSA Director Davorin Primorac.
The establishment of the U-space system requires amendments to the Law on Aviation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Law on the Bosnia and Herzegovina Air Navigation Services Agency. This would clearly define the responsibilities and powers for detection and the implementation of measures, while providing the legal basis for the provision of unmanned aircraft traffic management services in accordance with European regulations.
BHANSA, in cooperation with the Ministry of Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Bosnia and Herzegovina Directorate of Civil Aviation (BHDCA), has already developed and harmonised the necessary legislative solutions, which are awaiting adoption. The aim is for Bosnia and Herzegovina to establish a system that will enable the safe and orderly integration of the growing number of unmanned aircraft into its airspace, in accordance with European standards and practices.
