The decision on the appointment of Dario Grgurić was formally made at the COOPANS Alliance Board meeting held in Lisbon on September 24, 2019.

The appointment ensued following an open internal call conducted in all COOPANS members from March to June 2019. The establishment of the function of COOPANS Director as well as the COOPANS Management Team as full-time positions serving to all members is part of the new COOPANS strategy and organization for the members-service providers, to prepare themselves better for the coming challenges in the sense of European regulations and the Single European Sky requirements. 

The members will extend and improve their international cooperation areas, especially concerning common development and investments. European air navigation service providers cope with growing business operation challenges in the field of traffic growth, delay reduction, safety improvement, and increasingly important environmental requirements, all coupled with reaching the cost efficiency targets. In Europe, COOPANS is recognized by its results as a positive example of international cooperation of ANS providers, striving to assume the leading role through new European initiatives based on market principles and new technologies.

Dario Grgurić has been appointed COOPANS Director from his former position of CCL’s Technical Division Director. Over the course of his seventeen-year experience in the ATM industry, he had been Head of Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance Services as well as Navigation and Meteorological Systems Expert. He had been leading the Croatian ATM Modernization Programme (CroATMMP) for seven years, the main goal of which was the implementation of the COOPANS ATM system in CCL. In COOPANS, he has been a regular member of the COOPANS Strategic Development Group.