NATS handles peak season traffic levels

NATS saw an air traffic increase of 2.4% compared to the same period last year, with 214,923 flights handled in July.

Scheduled traffic rose at eight out of the fifteen airports where NATS operate air traffic control. Farnborough led this growth with a rise of 31.3%, which was mainly attributable to the air show during the month. London Stansted Airport also saw growth of 9.3%.

13760 minutes of NATS-attributable delay were recorded last month, making it the second lowest July total since records began in 1996, and despite a sizable year on year increase in traffic as the summer period continues.

Last month the UK market grew by 2.4%. Leading this growth was the Transatlantic Arrivals/Departures sector, which saw a rise of 6.0% and Non-transatlantic Overflights, which grew by 3.7%. The Domestic market declined by 3.0%.

Martin Rolfe, Managing Director Operations, NATS, said: “July has been another positive month for NATS particularly as we are in peak summer season.  We have handled the increase in scheduled traffic while keeping delays to a minimum.

Last month also saw the Farnborough International Air Show, which brought a sizeable increase in traffic for the airport as visitors flocked from around the world for what proved to be another successful air show.”