Occurrence Report for 2022 was adopted.
In 2022, in Montenegro, a total of 351 occurrences were reported in Montenegrin airspace and abroad involving aircraft registered in Montenegro, in civil aviation, one of which was classified as an accident, and related to paraglider operations, it was concluded in the Annual Occurrence Report for 2022, adopted by the Civil Aviation Agency. The goal of this report is to improve air traffic safety, determine the circumstances and causes of the occurrences, as well as to promote measures for prevention of recurrences of importance to safety.
During 2022, there was a recovery in the level of air traffic over the territory of Montenegro and Serbia (the airspace in which SMATSA llc provides air traffic control services), so compared to 2019, the volume of traffic is at the level of about 102%, which is a clear indicator of air traffic recovery. When it comes to the number of operations at international airports in Montenegro, during 2022, the recovery continues at Podgorica Airport, so it is at the level of about 84% compared to 2019, while at Tivat Airport there was a slight decrease in the number of operations compared to 2021, and now it is at the level of about 68% compared to 2019. The reason for this should be sought primarily in the absence of operators from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus in 2022.
The most reported occurrences are from three categories:
- From the OTHR (Other) category, which includes all occurrences that cannot fall into one of the predetermined categories, occurrences related to unstable approaches – UNST are distinguished.
- BIRD (Bird strikes) – bird and aircraft collision occurrences. The increased presence of birds is due to, among other things, peculiarities of the locality in the vicinity of international airports (nature, nature reserves, river canyons, a large area under vineyards), but also to the fact that Montenegro is located on the bird migration corridor in the north-south direction, as well as, due to the problem of landfills and uncontrolled dumping of waste, which is a food source for birds.
- SEC (Security) – occurrences related to air traffic security, where there is a large number of reports of laser interference.
Analyzing other categories in the reported occurrences, a relatively stable trend of occurrences related to the technical operation of the aircraft (but without impact on flight safety), emergency situations due to the passenger's health (medical), WILD, WSTRW, ADRM occurrences, etc., were identified.
Based on the above stated, it can be considered that the air traffic safety in Montenegro is at an acceptable level, where it is necessary for aviation entities to realistically perceive the trends of their own operations, identify hazards, analyze risks and take measures to reduce such identified risks. This kind of approach of aviation entities enables the creation of an efficient safety management system, management of all analyzed risks and efficient monitoring of the safety trend of air traffic operations in Montenegro.
The Agency will, through regular supervisions and inspections, check and determine the level of implementation of the above stated, as well as the actions of aviation entities in accordance with the positive trend of their own operations and identified hazards.
