Why Change is Needed

The TCN region is one of the most complex areas of airspace in the world, with routes in and out of major airports including Heathrow, Stansted, Luton and London City as well as smaller airports such as Southend and RAF Northolt.

All of these airports have grown considerably in the past 20 years - London City has grown from virtually nothing since the early 1990s - and we have accommodated this growth within the existing airspace infrastructure.

Just like bottlenecks on our roads, increased air traffic causes congestion in the airways meaning delay and extra fuel burn - and that has an impact on the environment.

Redrawing the routes enables us to make these routes more efficient to reduce delay. It also gives us the opportunity to reroute them to avoid flying over as many towns and villages as possible, especially at lower levels.

NATS provides air traffic control services at 15 of the UK's busiest airports as well as providing en route services to commercial aircraft flying over the UK, under licence from the Civil Aviation Authority. This year we will handle more than 2.4 million flights carrying over 235 million passengers.

Our licence also requires us to provide capacity for reasonable growth to meet forecast demand in the years ahead while at the same time ensuring a safe service and making the most efficient use of airspace.

That means investing in the very latest technology, developing our expertise and promoting a responsible programme of airspace development that takes into account Government policy which supports the sustainable development of air travel.

For the full details of why this change is needed please refer to the consultation document.