I enjoyed visiting the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) in Swanwick where I was given a tour of the premises and met local employees.
NATS is one of the largest employers in Fareham and provides air traffic services at most of the UK's major airports, including Heathrow and Gatwick, the world's busiest dual and single-runway airports.
As the sole provider of air traffic control services for aircraft flying en route in UK airspace and the eastern part of the North Atlantic NATS provides approach services to aircraft arriving at or departing from the major airports around London and air traffic control services to helicopters operating in the North Sea. It also has a long-term agreement to provide the military with engineering, surveillance and communications services and is economically regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) within the framework of the European Commission (EC) Single European Sky (SES) and operates under licence from the Secretary of State for Transport. It operates from two air traffic control centres, at Swanwick in Hampshire and Prestwick in Ayrshire and reported a profit before tax of £172.7m (2014: £133.9m).
It is clear that the past year saw some good growth for the UK aviation sector. Air traffic volumes increased compared with the previous year, reflecting improvements in the economy. NATS provides vital support for our airline and airport customers by maintaining excellent overall safety, service and environmental performance. NATS will also be delivering Project Marshall, a contract awarded by the Ministry of Defence, to transform the military's air traffic management and help its cost efficiency.
I was impressed by the clear focus on safety and real drive for excellence in customer service of everyone I met at NATS.
More than 240 million passengers flew safely through the UK and North Atlantic airspace during 2014, with the overwhelming majority experiencing no delay due to NATS. This was a good way to end the regulatory reference period. I would like to thank NATS staff for their support in achieving this outcome.
I am also delighted that NATS has, with the help of the UK’s Embassy in Indonesia and UKTI secured a contract to employ their expertise and experience to help increase capacity at Indonesia’s largest airport, in Jakarta.
Exciting times ahead!