The renovated building and air traffic control tower at Croatia Control’s (CCL) Osijek Regional ATC Center, in which CCL invested 7 million kuna, was formally opened yesterday. This investment improved the quality and scope of services at Osijek Airport and enabled our colleagues to return to the historic ATC tower, which is now equipped with state-of-the-art technology.
Vlado Bagarić, Director General of CCL, attended the presentation of the new infrastructure and stated: “The new premises of Osijek Regional ATC Center will improve the working conditions of air traffic controllers and other staff as well as improve the quality and safety of services at Osijek Airport. This investment is a part of continuous investing in the quality and safety of CCL’s services, and I would like to point out that CCL has invested more than 117 million kuna in increasing the capacity and safety of air traffic in the past two years, despite the pandemic.”
The Osijek ATC tower was built in 1980 and abandoned at the beginning of the Homeland War and has not been in operation until this year. From 2001 until today, CCL has invested more than 25 million kuna in total in Osijek Regional ATC Center.
“With the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in Croatia, the level of traffic dropped by over 50 percent and in some months by 90 percent compared to the traffic in 2019. Last year at Osijek Airport, 60 percent of the 2019 traffic was recorded, and this year, 85 percent. A full recovery of traffic to 2019 levels is expected in 2024. In such conditions, it is extremely important to preserve the competence of air traffic controllers, and we in CCL managed to do this with various projects, including this project of the modernization of facilities in Osijek,” said Dubravko Meco, ATM Sector Executive Director.
Ivan Radić, Mayor of Osijek, Jasmin Bajić, Director of Croatia Airlines, and Ivan Kos, Director of Osijek Airport, attended the opening of the new ATC tower, which was followed by Croatia Airlines presenting a new route connecting Osijek and Munich, its first international route at Osijek Airport.
