www.Parctel.com: NATS, the UK’s leading air traffic management provider, today (Tuesday 8 May) launches a consultation on proposed changes to two small sections of airspace that run from Evesham to Brize Norton and from Andover to Romsey.
The proposal allows for sections of airspace to be levelled with adjoining airspace, creating a corridor in which aircraft can be safely separated into north/south flows. The proposal also allows for two additional small areas of controlled airspace; these are extensions of approximately five nautical miles in width to the existing controlled airspace structure which links the Midlands with the South Coast.
The Terminal Control South West (TCSW) airspace change proposal is neither associated with, nor directly enables, expansion at any particular airport. It is being proposed to simplify the very complex traffic interactions in this area; the only way in which Air Traffic Control can currently manage this is to impose delays.
NATS anticipates that major benefits resulting from the proposed changes will include fewer flight delays and a decrease in carbon emissions per flight.
Consultation regarding this airspace change is being carried out involving a broad range of environmental and aviation stakeholders. These include county, borough and district councils, Members of Parliament, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, National Parks, environmental groups, airlines, recreational aviation groups and other interested parties. Consultation material may be found on the NATS website at www.nats.co.uk; the consultation period closes on Friday 10 August 2007.
Once the consultation is complete, its findings will be submitted to the Civil Aviation Authority which decides whether the proposed change can go ahead. If approved, the change is planned to become operational on 10 April 2008.
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