At the end of 2003, Serbia and Montenegro Air Traffic Services Agency was established as a limited liability company, instead of then existing Federal Air Traffic Control Authority, which had no possession of funds realized by providing services, and was thus unable to adequately keep up with the changes in the world of aviation that were taking place in Europe and in the world. Corporatization was followed by structural reorganization. Matrix organizational structure was devised within the Agency replacing the classical one, and horizontal, internal and external methods of communication were improved. Service user was placed at the top of the pyramid, in which way new, more dynamic and significantly more efficient paths of management were established.

Primary business activity of Serbia and Montenegro Air Traffic Services Agency is the provision of air traffic services in the airspace of the Republic of Serbia, the Republic of Montenegro, a part of international waters of the Adriatic Sea, as well as for 55% of the Upper Airspace of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Agency, and thus our country as well, is a member of the most important world aviation organizations (ICAO, ECAC, EUROCONTROL, CANSO, IACA). The established ATM system has been integrated into the European ATM system.

Internationally recognized qualifications of its staff, constant development and technical and technological improvement, have made the Agency the first company from the Republic of Serbia which conducts its business activities in full compliance with the European Union regulations and in accordance with positive European practices.

The Training Center has been in operation within the Agency for over 40 years. More than 1,600 air traffic controllers that have been trained here are now the Agency's employees or working as air traffic controllers worldwide. The Centre provides training of future air traffic controllers, professional technical (engineers and technicians) and meteorological staff, and two international classes of air traffic control students are currently being trained here.

Calibration Service is another operational unit within the Agency, providing flight testing of operational readiness of navigation aids in the Republic of Serbia, the Republic of Montenegro, and some neighboring countries.

RESULTS

Four years ago, the Agency entered a modernization programme, which in the first phase included renewal of resources destroyed in 1999, while the second phase of the modernization involves the implementation of the new system and equipment, and the new Area Control Center building construction. The whole project has been jointly financed by the European Bank for the Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank and Serbia and Montenegro Air Traffic Services Agency Ltd.

 

At the completion of this large and ambitious project, the Agency will significantly improve safety of air navigation, and be able to adequately accept the trend of increase in air traffic, and strengthen its position in the processes of regional integrations.

 

 

Air Traffic Management

ATM is provided for the entire airspace of Serbia and Montenegro, including Terminal/Approach and Aerodrome ATS for all Serbia and Montenegro airports, as well as some upper airspace above Bosnia and Herzegovina. ATM is based on industry standard technologies, supported by a newly implemented system with integrated safety nets and OLDI, and has been designed to meet growing traffic demands for many years to come. SMATSA has also undertaken comprehensive modernisation activities over the past four years. The installation of a new voice communication system, the timely finalisation of the 8.33 project with brand new Mode 3 capable digital radios, and the installation of a brand new Data Processing System with state of the art ODS and consoles are just some of the key elements of our modernisation programme.

Training Centre

SMATSA's Training Centre has been in operation for over 35 years and has developed a reputation for the highest standards of instruction. The Centre, fully compliant with ICAO standards, offers training for operational and technical staff for ATC radar simulation, laboratories, link training etc. for abinitio ATC training courses, as well as for specialised license courses.

Routine Inspection & Calibration

SMATSA owns two aircraft for the calibration and flight testing of ground equipment and systems. Two jet aircraft equipped by NORMARC NM3625B and STANDART can provide test reports in accordance with ICAO and FAA standards. SMATSA can perform commissioning, routine and periodic inspections of the following aids: ILS (CAT I, II, and III), MKR, VOR, NDB, COMM, SSR/SRE, PSR, PAPI/ VASI/CHAPI, DME, VOR/DME, VDF, RSBN and PRMG.

SMATSA Traffic Analyses and Forecast

Since the establishment of SMATSA, significant resources have been devoted to traffic analyses and assessments, an important basis for strategic decisions aimed at ATM performance improvements. SMATSA has initiated cooperation with the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering (FTTE), to initiate such analyses in cooperation with EUROCONTROL, who collect traffic data and give support in project management, quality assurance and preparation of data for model-based fast-time simulation.

The basic objective of the first phase of the project was to forecast annual and peak day traffic volumes for Serbia & Montenegro in 2007, 2010 and 2015. Historical socio-economic and traffic data from other European states were processed and a transportation demand model was used. Data processing focused on the economic strength of the north-west European zones, the tourism potential of the south-east European zones and the attractiveness of Serbia and Montenegro and surrounding airspaces in terms of unit rates and capacity. The study resulted in a forecast of continuous traffic growth in Serbia and Montenegro airspace, with traffic figures for 2007 and 2010 broadly reflecting the STATFOR forecast.

Cooperation with FTTE continued in September 2005, working on fast-time simulation of different scenarios of sectorisation of airspace under Beograd ACC responsibility, with the participation of CRDS Budapest. The fast-time simulation will take into account 2005 and future forecast traffic figures. The output will be a workload and capacity assessment of different sectorisation scenarios and the simulation results will be used to improve airspace organisation, thus improving the quality of overall ATM performance.

CARDS - Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and Stabilisation Programme

SMATSA is actively participating in the CARDS Programme together with other ANSPs and CAA's in the region. The second phase of this programme (ASATC), supported by EUROCONTROL, undertakes workshops on Safety Regulation, Institutional and Legal Assistance, Technical Support and Training on JAA, Safety Management Systems, Human Resources Development and Development of Strategic Business Plans. Of course Human Resources take up a prominent position within SMATSA's Strategic Business Plan. The HR model takes into account usage of both guidelines and tools in key processes such as recruitment, selection, manpower planning, reward systems, licensing, training and career development. It is an accepted business philosophy that every company has three main resources: material, financial and human. At SMATSA we are acutely aware that the human resource is the most important. When aligned with organisational needs and new technology it ensures that our main goal can be met - the right person, at the right time, in the right place to offer absolute safety in the skies.