Airspace

Highways in the sky

The aircraft we see in our skies are using an intricate and highly structured route network which keeps us safe as we fly from A to B, from the moment we take off to touchdown at our destination.

NATS is the custodian of UK airspace, managing the ‘invisible infrastructure’ that helps a wide range of airspace users to fly safely. Find out more below.

How it started

The origins of Air Traffic Control

Air Traffic Control - the coordination of aircraft to maintain safe distances, speed, altitude and separation from other aircraft – dates to the 1920s. It was then, at Croydon Airport, that the first airport control tower was built, leading to the adoption of ATC at airports around the world.

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The Jet Age

By the 1950s, the jet age had arrived. The de Havilland Comet entered service with the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), ushering in faster, longer distance travel. In this same period, modern route structures were introduced, and UK skies as we know them today were formed.

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NATS was established

The 60s brought Beatlemania, the Moon landing – and NATS. Since then, we’ve managed UK air traffic, maintaining an exceptional safety record in one of the most complex and busy airspaces in the world.

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60 Years On

Working in partnership with the DfT, CAA, airports, airlines and the military, we manage airspace from our control centres in Swanwick, Hampshire, and Prestwick, Ayrshire, and from airport control towers nationwide. Our expertise is world-renowned, with NATS controllers also operating in major hubs like Delhi, Hong Kong and Singapore.

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Sections

Explore the sections below to find out more about how airspace works, how we manage it and what the future looks like.

The value of UK aviation

The UK is an island nation connected to the rest of the world through the strength of our aviation industry. 

We have the third largest aviation network in the world, behind only the USA and China,  supporting 1.56 million jobs and contributing over £88 billion to the UK economy. 

Watch this video to learn more about the value of aviation to the United Kingdom >> 

Airspace in numbers

Each month we publish a news release that reports the numbers of flights we handle in UK Airspace. These are summarised below:

Airspace TV

'Airspace TV' is where we share all of our airspace-related videos including data visualisations of air traffic around the world.

Below is a selection of our more popular videos. Visit Airspace TV for more.

UK 24
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UK 24
Take a guided tour of a typical day in UK skies with over 7,000 aircraft operating to power leisure, commerce and security.
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Europe 24
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Europe 24
24 hours following the traffic patterns over Europe on a typical Summer day.
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North Atlantic Skies
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North Atlantic Skies
Every day, between two and three thousand aircraft fly across the North Atlantic between Canada, the United States and Europe.
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London 24
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London 24
Every year over 1.2 million aircraft arrive at or depart from a London airport. That's over 3,500 flights every day using just six runways.
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History of ATC
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70 years of air traffic
This visualisation charts the history of the UK’s skies from the 1950s to the present day.
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Connect

Connect with us on social media to stay up to date with airspace focused news and updates

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