Partnership between Ferrovial and NATS

Ferrovial, through Ferrovial Servicios, and NATS, the UK’s leading air navigation service provider, have announced a partnership called FerroNATS, to bid for air traffic control contracts tendered by AENA under the process of liberalising Spanish airports.

Spain’s Infrastructure Ministry has announced plans to privatise air traffic control at the airports of Alicante, Valencia, Ibiza, La Palma, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Sevilla, Jerez, Sabadell, Cuatro Vientos, Vigo, La Coruña and Melilla, grouped into three batches.

Santiago Olivares, CEO of Ferrovial Servicios: “FerroNATS inherits over ten years of experience in a liberalised air traffic services market, namely the UK. NATS is accustomed to working with a range of airport managers while continuously improving service quality in terms of time and safety. “This alliance combines our knowledge of the airport sector and the client with the technical and human capabilities that NATS provides in the area of managing air traffic”, concluded Olivares.

Paul Reid, General Manager, NATS Services, said: “The UK was one of the first countries to liberalise air traffic services and it continues to be one of the best success stories in this field. All service quality indicators have improved in the ten years since liberalisation, reflecting the success of the NATS approach. FerroNATS will bring together NATS’ air traffic control expertise with Ferrovial’s deep roots in Spanish airfield operations,” concluded Reid.

Ferrovial Servicios has extensive relations with AENA, working closely in areas of key importance for the continuity of the company’s operations. Major contracts include: Barajas winter viability plan, attention to persons with reduced mobility and runway, apron and terminal maintenance services, 9 of Spain’s largest airports (Madrid, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Málaga, Alicante, Tenerife, Lanzarote, Bilbao and Girona).

Created in 2001, NATS is a public-private partnership in which the UK government has a 49% shareholding and the majority of shares are held privately. The company recently reported its sixth successive year of profit. NATS already delivers safe, efficient air traffic control operations to a broad spectrum of customers, from airports with fewer than 1,000 aviation movements per month to Heathrow, the busiest two runway airport in the world. Since privatisation, NATS has reduced the average delay per flight from 88 seconds in 2001 to 3.9 seconds at present.