Future of flight

The future of aviation is here, and reshaping the way we fly. Emerging aircraft types, including electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles, commonly referred to as ‘electric air taxis’, and drones, are changing the way we use our skies.

These technologies have the potential to revolutionise emergency services, business, and personal transportation.

Adapting to these changes while avoiding disruption to existing aviation will require a whole new way of managing airspace.

At NATS, our focus is on ensuring the UK’s skies are safe and accessible for everyone.  We’re committed to integrating new airspace users alongside conventional crewed aircraft, to ensure all users can operate safely alongside each other.

Integration will be at the heart of that future advanced airspace, which is why our efforts are focused on developing new air traffic management infrastructure, services and techniques to ensure all customers are safely and seamlessly integrated.

Our vision for integrated airspace

The number of uncrewed aircraft in our skies is growing quickly. Accommodating them, while avoiding disruption to existing aviation, will require a new way of managing airspace.

The CAA recognises the potential and the positive changes that would follow from opening the skies to new users - improvements in medical deliveries, surveying, linking remote areas to urban – and, as the UKs leading provider of air navigation services, they have asked NATS to propose how it can be achieved.

In line with the Airspace Modernisation Strategy, we are developing NATS OpenAir, an integrated traffic management solution that extends the fundamental services we already provide.  We believe that NATS OpenAir can meet the needs of new airspace users through building the foundation for increased automation and the digitisation of air traffic services.

NATS envisions a future where different types of aircraft can coexist seamlessly in a single unified airspace. NATS OpenAir is our proposal for achieving that safely, sustainably and securely.

However, we need your input to develop it further.

That’s why we will conduct a comprehensive consultation, inviting stakeholders from across the industry to help us refine the NATS OpenAir concept.

The world of drones is rapidly evolving, and one of the exciting developments in this field is Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations.

To progress collaboration, innovation and responsible use of advancing technology, the BVLOS Operations Forum was established by NATS to bring the leading operators together. It has become a crucial platform for collectively advancing BVLOS operations.

Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) is an exciting concept that uses electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles to transport passengers and cargo in a clean, safe and sustainable electric air taxi network.

NATS is working closely with the world’s leading manufacturers and operators to determine how to achieve sustainable operations in the UK. We are seeking to get users flying in the earliest possible timescales using existing procedures. Thereafter we anticipate it will be necessary to gradually increase the level of automation and systemisation as demand grows.

With NATS’ expertise of managing complex airspace, we have led the airspace management work of several research projects that have explored how eVTOLs can be integrated into the network, including the London UAM project and the Air Mobility Ecosystem Consortium project, funded by the Future Flight Challenge. 

NATS is a leading partner in the Future Flight Challenge, a £300 million R&D programme, launched in 2019 and co-funded by government and industry, which is helping to build the ecosystem needed to accelerate the introduction of advanced air mobility, drones, and other new aircraft types in the UK.

NATS has been a part of several Future Flight Challenge Projects through the course of the programme, during which we have collaborated with industry, academia, government, and regulators to develop new ways of connecting people, transporting goods, and delivering services in a safe and sustainable way.

As part of Project DBAS, we built a ground-breaking ‘Master Control Room’ concept to co-ordinate a range of airspace users, including electric air-taxis, drones and commercial space operators.  In Project CAELUS, we are developing the airspace procedures needed to enable drone deliveries of essential medical supplies in Scotland. In Project AMEC, we are developing innovative technology solutions to streamline flight approvals and establish integrated air traffic management capabilities for advanced air mobility flights.