A conference on the Implementation of Single European Sky in South East Europe (ISIS Programme) agreed today that improved air traffic regulation will stimulate connectivity and create new market opportunities in the region.

The event, held in Budva, Montenegro, was co-organized by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), the European Commission and the International Civil Aviation Organization. It brought together high-level representatives of national authorities from South East Europe responsible for air traffic as well as civil and military representatives.

Today’s conference launched the second phase of ISIS Programme, which is expected to speed up regulatory alignment in South East Europe (SEE) with Single European Sky (SES) regulations, enable transfer of knowledge and experience from EU countries to SEE region, as well as introduce a system of professional training.

“The ISIS Programme presents an opportunity to the airlines and other interested parties to take advantage of the liberalized market, improve air connectivity in the region and strengthen cooperation in the area of Air Traffic Management (ATM), air safety, National Supervisory Authority cooperation and licensing military flights”, said Hido Biscevic, RCC Secretary General and co-chair of the Programme’s Governing Body.

“A better integration of national networks will foster regional cooperation and integration not only between the EU and its neighbours, but also among the countries of the region themselves, thus creating new market opportunities resulting from an integrated aviation market of 36 countries and more than 500 million people.”

Biscevic stressed that air traffic is an RCC priority, in line with the recently adopted Regional Cooperation Council’s Strategy and Work Programme 2011-2013.

The conference participants agreed to propose to the competent Ministers to confirm their political support to the second phase of the ISIS Programme. They invited all EU Members States to support the Programme by offering the possibility to exchange staff and develop twinning projects with the South East European partners.

The event recognized the need to launch further activities in certifying air navigation service providers, improving airspace design, cross-border coordination and Air Traffic Control sector delineation, as well as ATM system interoperability.

In 2008, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) on behalf of Kosovo in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution 1244(1999), as well as the European Commission, the former Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe and the Regional Cooperation Council, launched the ISIS Programme (Implementation of the Single European Sky In South East Europe).

The Single European Sky, launched in 2004, aims to reform the architecture of the European air traffic control to meet future capacity and safety needs. It has been launched to help the interconnection between national air navigation network infrastructures and services and to align rules and standards with Single European Sky regulations.