Interview with Farhan Guliyev, Director of Azeraeronavigation Air Traffic (AZANS)
The airspace of Azerbaijan remains fully open, safe, and highly efficient for international air carriers. The number of transit flights increased by 36% compared to 2023, and the overall growth compared to 2019 exceeded 173.4%, surpassing 229,000 flights per year.
This increase is not accidental. We have invested heavily in modernising our air navigation infrastructure, introducing Performance Based Navigation (PBN) procedures, expanding our surveillance systems with ADS-B and multilateration coverage, and working closely with neighboring ANSPs and EUROCONTROL to coordinate air traffic flows. This made our airspace an attractive, reliable corridor for carriers that needed alternative, stable routes between Europe and Asia.
In addition, our ability to quickly adapt to changing regional traffic patterns, including re-routing flows from conflict zones, played a key role. Airlines value predictability and safety, and Azerbaijan today offers both.
Challenges, opportunities and prospects for the Middle Corridor
In today’s dynamic geopolitical environment, Azerbaijan plays a pivotal role in the development of regional transport corridors. The Middle Corridor, a strategic east-west route connecting Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, is becoming increasingly important as global trade intensifies. This growing importance is underpinned by Azerbaijan’s strategic location, advanced transport infrastructure, and strong commitment to regional connectivity.
These opportunities come with significant operational challenges. One of the most pressing is the sharp rise in overflight traffic, which demands greater efficiency, robust cybersecurity, and continuous real-time coordination between civil and military aviation. Given the compact nature of our airspace, maintaining high levels of safety and predictability is our operational priority.
Over the next 12 months AZANS is implementing several projects under the National Airspace Strategy (NAS), that aim to enhance both operational performance and environmental sustainability.
Looking ahead to the next five years, our focus will shift to deepening regional cooperation, strengthening resilience against disruptions, and completing key strategic investments. Among them are the rollout of space-based ADS-B surveillance, expanded civil-military coordination frameworks, and full-scale digitalisation of ATM systems. Across all these efforts, sustainability, including fuel efficiency and CO₂ emissions reduction will be embedded in the modernisation agenda.
To support the future growth of qualified aviation professionals, a branch of the German DFS Academy will be established at the National Aviation Academy in Baku. The academy will feature a state-of-the-art 3D ATC simulator, providing a cutting-edge training environment for national and international students.
Ultimately, Azerbaijan seeks to position its airspace not only as a reliable and secure transit corridor, but also as a forward-looking model of innovation, regional cooperation, and sustainable airspace management across Eurasia.
The main points of the new National Airspace Strategy (NAS) for Azerbaijan
The development of the NAS in collaboration with IATA represents a foundational step in the modernisation of Azerbaijan’s air navigation system. The strategy outlines our national priorities across four key areas:
- First, improving the structure of our airspace to accommodate growing traffic and reduce complexity — including enhanced sectorisation, direct routing, and ultimately the implementation of Free Route Airspace
- Second, modernising our air traffic management (ATM) systems by deploying advanced digital tools such as AIS2AIM, ATFM platforms, and preparing for space-based ADS-B surveillance
- Third, integrating sustainability across all layers of ATM — optimising flight trajectories to reduce emissions, expanding PBN coverage, and ensuring that capacity growth remains aligned with environmental goals
- And finally, strengthening cooperation with both domestic and regional stakeholders — including civil-military coordination, regulatory harmonisation, and technical partnerships
We are already witnessing tangible progress. Infrastructure development is advancing with strength. A flagship project under the NAS is the construction of the new Alat Cargo Airport in the Alat Free Economic Zone. This facility is not only enhancing the country’s logistics capabilities but is also being developed as a certified green airport — in partnership with ICAO and the Silk Way Group. It will feature advanced CNS/ATM systems from Indra and incorporate renewable energy, low-carbon technologies, and sustainable operational practices from inception. In alignment with these environmental priorities, AZANS joined the CANSO GreenATM accreditation program. In parallel, a comprehensive master plan is being developed for Heydar Aliyev International Airport, with a planning horizon through 2045.
ATC services – collaboration with NATS, current state of art and plans for the future
Our collaboration with NATS marks a significant step in the next phase of modernising AZANS’ air traffic control services. The project focuses on a comprehensive review and optimisation of ATC operational procedures, CNS systems, and regulatory compliance at Heydar Aliyev International Airport, aligning them with international best practices.
Within the framework of the NATS collaboration, our current goals include conducting a detailed operational assessment, implementing recommendations for procedural improvements, and enhancing the resilience of our CNS infrastructure. We are also placing strong emphasis on human capital development: new training programs, knowledge exchange workshops, and updated simulation environments will be introduced to prepare the next generation of ATC personnel for the demands of digital and data-driven airspace management.
Today, AZANS operates with a highly qualified ATC workforce trained both nationally and internationally. Our infrastructure already includes modern surveillance technologies such as ADS-B and multilateration, and we are actively integrating space-based surveillance capabilities. However, as traffic volumes continue to grow and aviation becomes increasingly digitized, continuous modernisation remains a top priority.
Besides the above, AZANS cooperates with NATS, CAAM (Malaysia) and skeyes on the Green Aviation Insights (GAIN) tool, aiming to provide ANSPs with a standardised approach for assessing airspace efficiency, with the wider aim of supporting CO₂ emissions reduction and promoting the sustainability of aviation operations.
AZANS’s ambitions regarding international collaboration
International collaboration is a key priority for AZANS. We continue to work closely with ICAO, IATA, CANSO, and EUROCONTROL, aligning our standards with global best practices and contributing to initiatives that drive innovation and sustainability in aviation.
At the same time, we are placing strong emphasis on regional cooperation. In 2023, together with DHMI, AZANS co-founded the Regional Air Navigation Safety Coordination Platform for European and Central Asian ANSPs (SOCEA). Today, SOCEA brings together providers from Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Through this platform, we are building a new level of cooperation in aviation safety – sharing data, implementing a risk-based approach, and launching joint safety improvement and airspace harmonisation projects across the region.
Our goal is clear: to ensure that Azerbaijan is not just a participant, but an active contributor to regional safety excellence — while continuing to support the broader global efforts toward a safer, more efficient, and more sustainable aviation system.
