Safety in the Hungarian air traffic control system is being "jeopardised" by continuing instability in the civil aviation authority and the service provider, the LRI. "They have a growing potential safety problem", says an industry source.
Hungary is geographically at the centre of some of the busiest air routes in Europe, handling flights from countries in north western Europe on their way to destinations further south. While it was commended for handling the extra traffic generated during the two Balkan crises, an increase in the number of safety-related incidents has apparently overshadowed the authority's success in increasing airspace capacity.
The LRI has also failed to introduce a new air traffic management (ATM)system designed to handle the huge increase in traffic.
Hungarian air traffic controllers - some of whom are paid considerably less than most of their Western neighbours - are refusing to operate the Mathias ATM system until their salaries are increased. There are also understood to be serious morale problems, mainly because of what is described as a "lack of leadership and weak regulatory controls as well as political lobbying of the controller's association".
The LRI has lost three director generals since May, the latest resigning after just two months. The authority has been severely criticised by an independent study for presiding over an "unbearable situation that has to be solved".
The EU and Eurocontrol's Safety Regulation Commission have called for all countries which are signed up to the European Civil Aviation Council (ECAC) to harmonise their air traffic management safety standards.
A source says Hungary is "far from being the only concern, but it is probably the only country not to have made any progress in the required internal Safety Management Organisation".
This is related to the recent and frequent changes in the LRI's management structure, the source says. The LRI was unavailable for comment.
Source: Flight International
