Slovak air traffic controllers end strike

...navigation provider, the controllers' association (ATCA) said.

Some 50 of the 120 controllers had been on strike since Thursday, demanding a smaller workload and more training to maintain flight safety.

The strike had no effect on flights to and from Slovakia but its air space had been closed for all cross-over flights since Saturday due to the stoppage.

"There was a fundamental shift towards better air traffic safety as the Transport Ministry guaranteed to meet our safety demands in a concrete way and with concrete deadlines," ATCA President Lubos Laurencik said in a statement.

The ministry rejected ATCA's call to replace Roman Biro, the head of Slovak Air Traffic Services (LPS), but may act if the new safety audits show shortcomings in management, ATCA said.

Air traffic over Slovakia has doubled since 2000 to 340,000 flights last year, putting pressure on controllers, ATCA says. Some 1,400 planes a day flew over the central European country in the summer months of 2006.

ATCA has said a lack of training has jeopardised air safety.

[BRATISLAVA/Reuters/Finance.cz]