Following a decision by the Minister of Transport of the Czech Republic, Zdeněk Jelínek has been appointed Director General of Air Navigation Services of the Czech Republic. He succeeds Jan Klas, who led the company since 2007. 

‘I deeply appreciate the Minister of Transport´s confidence in me and the responsibility of leading Air Navigation Services of the Czech Republic, and I accept it with the utmost respect. I am building on the longstanding work of Jan Klas, who led the company for nearly two decades and made a significant contribution to its stability, reputation and high standards of safety in the services it provides. Air Navigation Services of the Czech Republic is a strategic enterprise whose most important mission is to ensure the safe, smooth and reliable provision of air traffic services in the airspace of the Czech Republic and at controlled airports. My priority will be to ensure continuity in the company’s management, maintain the highest possible level of safety and further develop the enterprise in close cooperation with its employees, professional management and partners in the Czech and European aviation sectors,’’ said the newly appointed Director General Zdeněk Jelínek.    

Zdeněk Jelínek (born in 1975) is a graduate of the Faculty of Transportation Sciences at the Czech Technical University in Prague, where he studied Air Transport Operations and Economics. He joined the Ministry of Transport in 2000, working within the Civil Aviation Department, where he was appointed Director General in 2017. In this role, he represented the interests of the Czech Republic in the field of civil aviation as a member of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency Committee and the European Commission’s Single Sky Committee. He is also an elected member of the Coordinating Committee of the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC). From 2018, he served as Vice-Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Air Navigation Services of the Czech Republic, becoming its Chairman in 2023.

FAB CE Committee Chairwoman Elisabeth Landrichter thanked Jan Klas for the many years of execellent cooperation within FAB CE:"Over nearly two decades as Director General of the Czech ANSP, Jan Klas made a significant contribution to the development of FAB CE and to European ATM cooperation. His commitment, strategic vision and constructive approach have helped strengthen collaboration among us as FAB CE partners and have contributed to the success and continuity of our common initiatives."

"We are also pleased to hear that Zdeněk Jelínek will assume the leadership of the Czech ANSP and look forward to continuing the close and trusted cooperation with the Czech Republic within the FAB CE framework. Congratulations to Zdeněk Jelinek on his appointment as Director General", said Landrichter.