Bulgaria and Romania are working towards the creation of a Functional Airspace Block (FAB) over the Danube region, Bulgaria's Air Traffic Services Authority (ATSA) and the Romanian Air Traffic Services Administration (RomATSA) stated during a joint news conference on Tuesday.

An FAB allows countries to direct air traffic along the most viable routes without the need to avoid international borders, BTA reports.

The two organizations Tuesday held a second consultation meeting for states interested in the initiative. The meeting was organized by independent Danish consulting firm Integra, and was also attended by International Air Transport Association (IATA) representatives.

The results of the first stage of Integra's analyses are expected to be ready by the end of the year. These will indicate the feasibility of the FAB. "Close cooperation is required between air traffic administrations for the initiative to be a success," ATSA Director Emanuel Radev said.

The creation of the Bulgarian-Romanian FAB is part of the EU's Single European Sky initiative, which aims to reform the architecture of European airspace to meet future safety and capacity needs, and setting common technical and procedural rules, and to reduce delays due to the availability of more direct routes. After the system's implementation, air carriers are expected to save 250-300 million euro before 2020, when the SESAR satellite navigation system is expected to be operational, Radev said.

If the idea, approved by the two countries' Transport Ministers in February 2005, gets off the ground, the project could act as Bulgarian-Romanian partnership a precedent for EU cooperation in air traffic management, IATA representatives commented, voicing their full support for the initiative.