National Air Traffic Services
Encyclopedia
NATS Ltd. is the main air navigation service provider
Air Navigation Service Provider
An Air Navigation Service Provider is the organisation that separates aircraft on the ground or in flight in a dedicated block of airspace on behalf of a state or a number of states....

 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. It provides en-route air traffic control
Air traffic control
Air traffic control is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. The primary purpose of ATC systems worldwide is to separate aircraft to prevent collisions, to organize and expedite the flow of traffic, and to provide information and other...

 services to flights within the UK Flight Information Region
Flight Information Region
In aviation a flight information region is a region of airspace with specific dimensions, in which a flight information service and an alerting service are provided. It is the largest regular division of airspace in use in the world today....

s and the Shanwick Oceanic Control Area
Shanwick Oceanic Control
Shanwick is the Air Traffic Control name given to the area of International Airspace which lies above the northeast part of the North Atlantic...

, and provides air traffic control services to fifteen UK airports and Gibraltar Airport
Gibraltar Airport
Gibraltar Airport or North Front Airport is the civilian airport that serves the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. It is owned by the Ministry of Defence for use by the Royal Air Force as RAF Gibraltar. Civilian operators use the airport; currently the only scheduled flights operate to the...

.

The workforce of NATS is mainly made up of Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs), Air Traffic Control Engineers (ATCEs) and Air Traffic Services Assistants (ATSAs). Administrative and Support staff make up the remainder of the 5,000 or so staff employed by NATS.

NATS' en-route business is regulated and operated under licence from the Civil Aviation Authority. The terms of the licence require NATS to be capable of meeting on a continuous basis any reasonable level of overall demand. They are charged with permitting access to airspace on the part of all users, whilst making the most efficient overall use of airspace.

NATCS

The organisation was originally setup as the National Air Traffic Control Services (NATCS) in 1962, bringing together responsibility for the UK's existing military and civil Air Traffic Control services.

NATS

The organisation became National Air Traffic Services when responsibility for sponsoring the civil air traffic service component was transferred to the newly formed UK Civil Aviation Authority
United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority
The Civil Aviation Authority is the public corporation which oversees and regulates all aspects of aviation in the United Kingdom. The CAA head office is located in the CAA House on Kingsway in Holborn, London Borough of Camden...

 (CAA) in 1972. At this stage it had no legal existence - all contracts were with the CAA or MoD.

Management

Until its establishment as a separate company, leadership of NATS (the 'Controller') alternated between civil and military, the latter normally a serving Air Marshal
Air Marshal
Air marshal is a three-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...

. The first Controller was Sir Laurence Sinclair, exceptionally an Air Vice Marshall. NATS staff were drawn from, and paid by, the CAA and the MoD
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....

.

West Drayton

The London Air Traffic Control Centre at RAF West Drayton
RAF West Drayton
RAF West Drayton was a non-flying Royal Air Force station in West Drayton, within the London Borough of Hillingdon, which served as the main centre for military air traffic control in the United Kingdom. It was co-located with the civilian London Terminal Control Centre to provide a vital link...

 opened in 1966. West Drayton continued to provide ATC services until it finally closed in 2007, with the move to Swanwick. Scottish air traffic control has been carried out from Atlantic House in Prestwick since 1978.

Privatisation

Privatisation was first mooted in 1992, and although that debate came and went, it was recognised that as a service provider, NATS should be operated at some distance from its regulator (the CAA), so NATS was re-organised into a Companies Act company on 1 April 1996 and became a wholly owned subsidiary of the CAA. The direct involvement of military officers in the management of NATS ended at this time, although the last military Controller (Air Marshal Sir Thomas Stonor, KCB) had retired in 1991.

Notable incidents

From the 15th to the 20th of April 2010, NATS withdrew its service due to the potential dangers caused by a volcanic ash cloud from the eruption of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull.

Ownership structure and management

In 1998, a controversial public-private partnership
Public-private partnership
Public–private partnership describes a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies...

 was proposed. This was written into the Transport Act 2000
Transport Act 2000
The Transport Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provided for a number of measures regarding transport in Great Britain, most notably, the first major change in the structure of the privatised railway system established under the Railways Act 1993...

 and in 2001 51% of NATS was transferred to the private sector. However due to the decline in air traffic following the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...

 £130m of additional investment was required, £65m coming each from the UK government and BAA
BAA plc
BAA Ltd. is the Spanish-owned operator of six British airports and Naples Airport in Italy, making the company one of the largest transport companies in the world. BAA stems from British Airports Authority and is owned by a consortium led by Grupo Ferrovial, a Spanish firm specialising in...

, who received 4% of the company in return.

The current shareholders are: the UK government (49%); The Airline Group (42%) which is a consortium
Consortium
A consortium is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal....

 of British Airways
British Airways
British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...

, BMI
Bmi (airline)
British Midland Airways Limited , is an airline based at Donington Hall in Castle Donington in the United Kingdom, close to East Midlands Airport, and a fully owned subsidiary of Lufthansa...

, EasyJet
EasyJet
EasyJet Airline Company Limited is a British airline headquartered at London Luton Airport. It carries more passengers than any other United Kingdom-based airline, operating domestic and international scheduled services on 500 routes between 118 European, North African, and West Asian airports...

, Monarch Airlines
Monarch Airlines
Monarch Airlines, often shortened to and trading as Monarch, is a British charter and scheduled airline based at London Luton Airport in Luton. It is one of the United Kingdom's largest charter airlines, operating to Europe, the United States, the Caribbean, India and Africa, serving mainly leisure...

, Thomas Cook Airlines
Thomas Cook Airlines
Thomas Cook Airlines is a British charter airline based in Manchester, England. It serves main holiday resorts worldwide, from its main bases at Manchester and Gatwick.The airline also operates services from nine other bases in the United Kingdom....

, Thomson Airways
Thomson Airways
Thomson Airways is the world's largest charter airline, offering scheduled and charter flights from the UK to destinations across Europe, Africa, Asia and North America. The company commenced operations on 1 November 2008, following the merger and subsequent re-branding of Thomsonfly and First...

 and Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic Airways
Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited is a British airline owned by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Singapore Airlines...

; BAA (4%); and NATS employees (5%).

Richard Deakin has been CEO of NATS since April 2010.

Divisions

NATS is split into two main service provision companies: NATS En-Route PLC (NERL) and NATS Services Ltd (NSL). NERL holds the monopoly of civilian en-route air traffic control over the UK and is regulated by the CAA who, for example, determine the charges NERL can make. NERL is funded by charging airlines for the provision of air traffic services.

Free market

NSL competes for contracts in the free market
Free market
A free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...

 to provide air traffic control at airports in the UK and overseas, as well as providing engineering, technical and education services in fields related to air traffic control.

En route

There are two control centres in the UK operated by NERL:
  • London Area Control Centre
    London Area Control Centre
    The London Area Control Centre is an air traffic control centre based at Swanwick near Fareham in Hampshire, southern England. It is operated by National Air Traffic Services , starting operations on 27 January 2002, and handles aircraft over England and Wales...

     and London Terminal Control Centre
    London Terminal Control Centre
    The London Terminal Control Centre was an air traffic control centre based in West Drayton, in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England, approximately 2.5 miles north of London Heathrow airport...

     at Swanwick
    Swanwick, Hampshire
    Swanwick is a village in Hampshire, England, east of the River Hamble and north of the M27 motorway.The village is located within the borough of Fareham and is the site of the London Area Control Centre and the London Terminal Control Centre part of National Air Traffic Services Air Traffic...

     in Hampshire
    Hampshire
    Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

     controls both upper level en-route traffic across England
    England
    England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

     and Wales
    Wales
    Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

     up to the Scottish border and low-level traffic around London and South East England
    South East England
    South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex...

    , including aircraft making approaches to the main London airports.
  • The Prestwick
    Prestwick
    Prestwick is a town in South Ayrshire on the south-west coast of Scotland, about south-west of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr, the centre of which is about south...

     Centre, Ayrshire
    Ayrshire
    Ayrshire is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the...

    , is home to the Scottish Area Control Centre (including, since January 2010, the former Manchester Area Control Centre), which controls traffic over Scotland
    Scotland
    Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

    , Northern Ireland
    Northern Ireland
    Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

    , and up to FL285 over the northern half of England, and the Prestwick Oceanic Area Control Centre which provides a procedural control
    Procedural control
    Procedural control is a method of providing air traffic control services without the use of radar. It is used in regions of the world, specifically sparsely-populated land areas and oceans, where radar coverage is either prohibitively expensive or is simply not feasible...

     service for traffic crossing the North Atlantic
    Atlantic Ocean
    The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

     via the Shanwick Oceanic Control Area
    Shanwick Oceanic Control
    Shanwick is the Air Traffic Control name given to the area of International Airspace which lies above the northeast part of the North Atlantic...

    .


Various radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...

 stations are operated around the UK one such being that on Great Dun Fell
Great Dun Fell
Great Dun Fell is the second-highest hill in the Pennine range, United Kingdom, lying two miles south along the watershed from Cross Fell, its higher neighbour...

 in Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...

.

Airports

NSL provides air traffic services at all BAA Limited airports:
  • London Heathrow Airport
    London Heathrow Airport
    London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the third busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe...

  • London Stansted Airport
    London Stansted Airport
    -Cargo:-Statistics:-Infrastructure:-Terminal and satellite buildings:Stansted is the newest passenger airport of all the main London airports. The terminal is an oblong glass building, and is separated in to three areas: Check-in concourse, arrivals and departures...

  • Southampton Airport
    Southampton Airport
    Southampton Airport is the 20th largest airport in the UK, located north north-east of Southampton, in the Borough of Eastleigh within Hampshire, England....

  • Aberdeen Airport
    Aberdeen Airport
    Aberdeen Airport is an international airport, located at Dyce, a suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland, approximately northwest of Aberdeen city centre. 2.76 million passengers used Aberdeen Airport in 2010, a reduction of 7.4% compared with 2009, making it the 15th busiest airport in the UK...

  • Edinburgh Airport
    Edinburgh Airport
    Edinburgh Airport is located at Turnhouse in the City of Edinburgh, Scotland, and was the busiest airport in Scotland in 2010, handling just under 8.6 million passengers in that year. It was also the sixth busiest airport in the UK by passengers and the fifth busiest by aircraft movements...

  • Glasgow International Airport
    Glasgow International Airport
    Glasgow International Airport is an international airport in Scotland, located west of Glasgow city centre, near the towns of Paisley and Renfrew in Renfrewshire...


From Aberdeen NSL provides air traffic services on behalf of NERL to offshore helicopters operating primarily from Aberdeen, Shetland (Sumburgh & Scatsta), Humberside, Norwich and North Denes.

It also has contracts with other non-BAA airports including:
  • London Gatwick Airport
    London Gatwick Airport
    Gatwick Airport is located 3.1 miles north of the centre of Crawley, West Sussex, and south of Central London. Previously known as London Gatwick,In 2010, the name changed from London Gatwick Airport to Gatwick Airport...

     - sold by BAA in December 2009 to Global Infrastructure Partners
    Global Infrastructure Partners
    Global Infrastructure Partners is an infrastructure owning company, a private equity fund led by Credit Suisse and General Electric. Current assets include a 75% stake in London City Airport, Biffa Limited, a UK based waste management company and Gatwick Airport after recently acquiring it from...

     (GIP)
  • London City Airport
    London City Airport
    London City Airport is a single-runway airport. It principally serves the financial district of London and is located on a former Docklands site, east of the City of London, opposite the London Regatta Centre, in the London Borough of Newham in east London. It was developed by the engineering...

  • London Luton Airport
    London Luton Airport
    London Luton Airport is an international airport located east of the town centre in the Borough of Luton in Bedfordshire, England and is north of Central London. The airport is from Junction 10a of the M1 motorway...

  • Cardiff International Airport
    Cardiff International Airport
    Cardiff Airport is an international airport serving Cardiff, and the rest of South, Mid and West Wales. Around 1.4 million passengers passed through the airport in 2010....

  • Birmingham International Airport
    Birmingham International Airport (UK)
    Birmingham Airport , formerly Birmingham International Airport is an airport located east southeast of Birmingham city centre, at Bickenhill in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull within the West Midlands, England...

  • Bristol International Airport
    Bristol International Airport
    Bristol Airport , located at Lulsgate Bottom in North Somerset, is the commercial airport serving the city of Bristol, England and the surrounding area. At first it was named Bristol Lulsgate Airport and from March 1997 to March 2010 it was known as Bristol International Airport...

  • Gibraltar Airport
    Gibraltar Airport
    Gibraltar Airport or North Front Airport is the civilian airport that serves the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. It is owned by the Ministry of Defence for use by the Royal Air Force as RAF Gibraltar. Civilian operators use the airport; currently the only scheduled flights operate to the...

  • Farnborough Airfield
    Farnborough Airfield
    Farnborough Airport or TAG London Farnborough Airport is an airport situated in Farnborough, Rushmoor, Hampshire, England...

  • Manchester Airport
  • Belfast International Airport
    Belfast International Airport
    Belfast International Airport is a major airport located northwest of Belfast in Northern Ireland. It was formerly known and is still referred to as Aldergrove Airport, after the village of the same name lying immediately to the west of the airport. Belfast International shares its runways with...

    .


NSL has also has won contracts to provide a part of the air traffic control services at certain airports including:
  • London Biggin Hill Airport
    London Biggin Hill Airport
    London Biggin Hill Airport is an airport at Biggin Hill in the London Borough of Bromley, located south southeast of Central London, United Kingdom...

  • Sumburgh Airport
    Sumburgh Airport
    -Other tenants:*Maritime and Coastguard Agency *Bristow Helicopters*Bond Helicopters -Incidents and accidents:...



NSL also provides services to the MoD, via QinetiQ for Air Traffic and Range Air Control Services at a number of UK Ranges, including:
  • Aberporth
    Aberporth
    Aberporth is a community and small town in Ceredigion on the west coast of Wales. The population was 2,485 in 2001.- Location :The town lies at the southern end of Cardigan Bay about six miles north of Cardigan and ten miles south of New Quay approximately one mile west of the A487, on the...

  • Hebrides
    Hebrides
    The Hebrides comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive...

  • Larkhill
    Larkhill
    Larkhill is a garrison town in the civil parish of Durrington, Wiltshire, England. It is a short distance west of Durrington village proper and north of the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge. It is about north of Salisbury....

  • West Freugh


NSL also provides services to the UK Military Aviation Authority

Association with other organisations

NATS is a full member of the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation
Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation
CANSO – The Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation – is the global voice of the companies that provide air traffic control, and represents the interests of Air Navigation Service Providers worldwide...

. It is a shareholder in European Satellite Services Provider
European Satellite Services Provider
European Satellite Services Provider is a company set up to provide the EGNOS Open Service and Safety of Life Service compliant with ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices throughout the ECAC region, including the operations and technical management of EGNOS, the European Geostationary...

 (ESSP), a company set up to operate the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service
European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service
The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service is a satellite based augmentation system developed by the European Space Agency, the European Commission and EUROCONTROL. It supplements the GPS, GLONASS and Galileo systems by reporting on the reliability and accuracy of the signals...

 (EGNOS).

Since the 1940s, the Irish and UK air traffic control service providers have worked effectively together. This was further strengthened in July 2008 when the Irish and UK governments announced that NATS and IAA
Irish Aviation Authority
The Irish Aviation Authority is a commercial semi state company employing approximately 700 people at six locations around Ireland. The IAA has two main functions; the provision of air traffic management & related services in Irish controlled airspace and the safety regulation of the civil...

 had jointly introduced the first Functional Airspace Block
Functional Airspace Block
Functional Airspace Block is defined in the SES-2 legislative package, as follows:A FAB means an airspace block based on operational requirements and established regardless of State boundaries, where the provision of air navigation services and related functions are performance-driven and...

 under the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....

's Single European Sky
Single European Sky
The Single European Sky is a European Commission initiative by which the design, management and regulation of airspace will be coordinated throughout the European Union ....

initiative.

External links


Video clips

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