NATS, the UK’s leading air traffic management provider, handled 195,593 flights in April, a rise of 4.2 per cent over April 2006.
The London Area Control Centre at Swanwick in Hampshire handled 159,258 flights, an increase of 4.1 per cent over last year. The London Terminal Control Centre at West Drayton showed growth of 3.7 per cent, the Scottish Area Control Centre at Prestwick an increase of 1.1 per cent and the Oceanic Area Control Centre, also located at Prestwick, recorded an increase of 3.3 per cent. Manchester Area Control Centre traffic showed little change over April 2006, at -0.8 per cent, partly due to the effect of the takeover of BA Connect by FlyBe.
The transatlantic market continued to perform well with arrivals/departures growing by 6.1 per cent and overflights by 4.9 per cent. Strongest arrivals/departure growth in other markets was seen by Italy (12.7 per cent), Greece (13.6 per cent), Poland (15.4 per cent) and Turkey (22.1 per cent).
At the 15 UK airports where NATS provides air traffic services, traffic grew collectively by 2.0 per cent (see Notes to Editors). Strongest growth continued to be at Farnborough, London City, Belfast International and Luton with 39.3 per cent, 24.2 per cent, 10.6 per cent and 9.5 per cent respectively.
In domestic markets, strongest year on year growth came on flights between Manchester-Edinburgh, London City-Edinburgh and Heathrow-Aberdeen, while Gatwick-Manchester and Birmingham-Edinburgh saw a decrease.
| Apr 2007 | Apr 2006 | % gr | 2007 to Date | 2006 to Date | % gr | |
| UK FLIGHTS | 195,593 | 187,788 | 4.2% | 749,455 | 722,182 | 3.8% |
| CENTRES | ||||||
| London Area Control Centre (Swanwick) | 159,258 | 152,986 | 4.1% | 606,291 | 584,361 | 3.8% |
| London Terminal Control Centre | 112,769 | 108,706 | 3.7% | 435,584 | 422,510 | 3.1% |
| Manchester Area Control Centre | 47,143 | 47,519 | -0.8% | 183,261 | 184,335 | -0.6% |
| Scottish Area Control Centre | 48,826 | 48,281 | 1.1% | 191,605 | 188,147 | 1.8% |
| Oceanic Area Control Centre (Shanwick) | 32,307 | 31,263 | 3.3% | 121,360 | 117,040 | 3.7% |
| MARKET | ||||||
| Transatlantic Arrivals/Departures | 11,430 | 10,769 | 6.1% | 43,651 | 40,814 | 7.0% |
| Transatlantic Overflights | 14,923 | 14,227 | 4.9% | 56,072 | 53,670 | 4.5% |
| Other Arrivals/Departures | 119,031 | 113,960 | 4.4% | 451,564 | 434,410 | 3.9% |
| Other Overflights | 9,518 | 8,335 | 14.2% | 36,484 | 30,756 | 18.6% |
| Domestic | 40,350 | 40,224 | 0.3% | 160,424 | 161,420 | -0.6% |
