National Air Traffic Services Ltd. (NATS) is the United Kingdom's main air traffic control service provider. It was partly privatised in 2001 by the ruling Labour Party, despite a large backbench rebellion. Air Traffic Control Towers (ATCTs) at Schiphol Airport Air Traffic Control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... The Labour Party has historically been the principal left wing political party of the United Kingdom since its formation in the early 20th century (see British politics). ... A backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislature who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition. ...

NATS corporate logo

NATS is a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), with the government holding a 49% majority share. The Airline Group, a consortium of Airtours, British Airways, bmi, Britannia, easyJet, Virgin Atlantic, and Monarch, holds 42%. The remaining shares are owned by BAA plc (4%) and NATS staff (5%.) Image File history File links Nats_logo. ... Image File history File links Nats_logo. ... Public-private partnership (PPP) is a variation of privatization in which elements of a service previously run solely by the public sector are provided through a partnership between the government and one or more private sector companies. ... For the 1930s airline of similar name see British Airways Ltd British Airways (LSE: BAY, NYSE: BAB) is the largest airline of the United Kingdom. ... bmi (IATA: BD, ICAO: BMA, and Callsign: Midland) is the second largest full-service scheduled airline in the United Kingdom. ... easyJet is a low cost airline officially known as easyJet Airline Company Limited, based at London Luton Airport. ... Virgin Atlantic Airways, usually referred to as Virgin Atlantic, is one of the airlines of Richard Bransons Virgin Group, operating long-haul routes between London and North America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and Australia. ... BAA plc (LSE: BAA) is the owner and operator of seven major United Kingdom airports and operator of several airports worldwide, making the company one of the largest transport companies in the world. ...

It is split into two main service provision companies, NATS En-Route Ltd. (NERL) and NATS Services Ltd. (NSL). NATs (En Route) Ltd. is a regulated business which holds the monopoly of Civilian Air Traffic control over the UK; NATS (Services) Ltd. competes for contracts to provide air traffic control at airports in the UK and overseas. NATS (En-Route) Ltd is regulated by the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) who, for example, can place price caps for the charge NATS can charge its customers. NATS (Services) Ltf. has won contracts for all of UK BAA owned airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Southampton, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow) and several other non-BAA airports (including London City, Cardiff, Birmingham, Manchester & Belfast). The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is the public corporation which oversees and regulates all aspects of aviation in the UK. It was established in 1972. ...

There are four main NATS control centres across the UK.

• London Terminal Control Centre (LTCC) at West Drayton controls low level traffic in the London Terminal Manoeuvring Area (TMA).
• London Area Control Centre (LACC) at Swanwick, Hampshire, controls en-route traffic across England and Wales.
• Manchester Area Control Centre (MACC) at Manchester International Airport controls local traffic around Manchester and the north of England.
• Scottish and Oceanic Area Control Centre (ScOACC) at Prestwick controls all Scottish and Northern Irish traffic and also provides procedural control for traffic crossing the North Atlantic.

The two main skill sets employed in NATS are Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs) and Air Traffic Control Engineers (ATCEs). West Drayton is a place in the London Borough of Hillingdon to the west of central London. ... The Houses of Parliament and the clock tower containing Big Ben Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London (see Wiktionary:London for the name in other languages) is the capital of the United Kingdom and England. ... Location within the British Isles Swanwick is a town in Hampshire, England, situated on the River Hamble and M27 motorway. ... Hampshire (abbr. ... Manchester International Airport (IATA: MAN, ICAO: EGCC) is an airport in Manchester, England. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages English (de facto) Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked 1st... The town of Prestwick is located in the central west coast of Scotland in the region of southern Ayrshire. ...

Richard Everett departed as CEO of NATS in mid-2004 and was replaced by Paul Barron, former Managing Director of Alstom UK. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the job of having the ultimate executive responsibility or authority within an organization or corporation. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Alstom (formerly GEC-Alsthom) (Euronext: ALO) is a large French company whose businesses are power generation and manufacturing trains (e. ...

On June 3 2004 NATS was forced to apologise for widespread disruption in the UK and European continent caused by the temporary loss of an air traffic control computer. June 3 is the 154th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (155th in leap years), with 211 days remaining. ...

NATS is a shareholder in European Satellite Services Provider (ESSP), a company set up to operate the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS). European Satellite Services Provider (ESSP) is a company set up to operate the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS). ... The European geostationary navigation overlay system (EGNOS) is a satellite navigation system under development by the European Space Agency, the European Commission and EUROCONTROL. It is intended to supplement the GPS and GLONASS systems by reporting on the reliability and accuracy of the signals. ...

External link

• Official site
• National Audit Office report into the refinancing of NATS following the financial difficulties experienced after 9/11