National Air Traffic Services (NATS), the UK's leading air traffic management provider, handled 177,402 flights in January, a rise of 5.6 per cent over January 2005.
NATS' Oceanic Area Control Centre at Prestwick recorded the strongest growth, with an increase of 6.0 per cent to 28,667 flights. The London Area Control Centre at Swanwick, Hampshire reported an increase of 5.9 per cent (143,864 flights), and the London Terminal Control Centre at West Drayton an increase of 4.7 per cent (104,296 flights).
Strong en-route growth continued at 13 of the UK airports where NATS provides air traffic services, with the highest increases at Farnborough (21.3 per cent), Bristol (17.6 per cent) and London City (15.8 per cent).
Non-transatlantic overflights showed strong growth of 19.3 per cent as a result of continued route development and higher traffic volumes between Ireland and continental Europe, especially Germany and Italy. The transatlantic market showed slower growth with overflights up 3.9% and arrivals/departures up 1.1%.
Norway , Switzerland, Turkey and Portugal continued to be popular winter destinations with flights up by 19.7% (to 2201), 18.7% (to 6,271), 17.6%( to 688) and 11.3% (to 2,116) respectively over January 2005.
| Jan 2006 | Dec 2005 | % gr | |
| UK FLIGHTS | 177,402 | 167,987 | 5.6% |
| CENTRES | |||
| London Area Control Centre (Swanwick) | 143,864 | 135,809 | 5.9% |
| London Terminal Control Centre | 104,296 | 99,593 | 4.7% |
| Manchester Area Control Centre | 44,535 | 44,801 | -0.6% |
| Scottish Area Control Centre | 45,748 | 44,981 | 1.7% |
| Oceanic Area Control Centre (Shanwick) | 28,667 | 27,034 | 6.0% |
| MARKET | |||
| Transatlantic Arrivals/Departures | 10,097 | 9,987 | 1.1% |
| Transatlantic Overflights | 13,234 | 12,736 | 3.9% |
| Other Arrivals/Departures | 106,298 | 100,620 | 5.6% |
| Other Overflights | 7,450 | 6,244 | 19.3% |
| Domestic | 40,026 | 38,061 | 5.2% |
09 February 2006
