The Croatian Air Navigation Services (HKZP) received 1,500 applications for the competition for 24 air traffic controllers at multiple locations in Croatia, reported HKZP director Vlado Bagarić on Thursday, announcing the possibility of opening a training center for controllers in Croatia.
The competition for air traffic controllers, or for the selection of candidates for training as air traffic controllers, ended on March 20 and sought the highest number of controllers to date. Bagarić explained to reporters at the HKZP headquarters that this is partly due to generational change, but mostly due to the increase in traffic in Croatian airspace.
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“We are in the process of reviewing applications, the number of which has surprised us, and we will have to select 24 candidates according to the conditions, who will then go for training, most likely starting in June this year,” said Bagarić during the “press academy” organized for the education of journalists about air traffic by the Zagreb International Airport (MZLZ) in cooperation with HKZP, Croatia Airlines, and the MediaVal agency.
Emphasizing that the training of controllers is quite expensive, ranging from 80,000 to 90,000 euros per participant and lasting two to two and a half years, Bagarić stated that controllers are currently partly trained in Croatia, but mostly abroad, specifically in Germany and Sweden.
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“We hope that these 24 controllers we currently need will be the last to go for training abroad, as we believe that starting next year we could conduct training in Croatia, for which we have sufficient knowledge and skills at HKZP. We would collaborate with the academic community, and we could also work for other countries. We think a good location for the training center would be somewhere on the Adriatic, which will be discussed further,” said Bagarić.
Executive Director of the area control center Vladimir Bračević, who is also an air traffic controller, believes that a training center could function well in Croatia, especially since HKZP will need new controllers in the coming years.
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“According to our projections, in the next 10 to 12 years we will need about 150 new air traffic controllers, and currently, we have about 300 at all locations. All of them undergo training regardless of the qualifications they come with, as it is a specific and demanding job that requires a lot of knowledge, as well as dedication and excellent health,” said Bračević.
He added that controllers have a privileged service period, and although there is no age limit for how long someone can work as a controller, concentration and reaction levels tend to decline after the age of 55. On the other hand, practice shows that a controller around 24 years old is among the most concentrated for their age.
Regardless of age, all controllers are required to spend a specified number of hours in the air traffic control room.
