Seventy years ago, there was a revolution in air travel. Radio Detection and Ranging – or ‘radar’ – gave air traffic controllers their eyes on the skies. They could see aircraft, in real time, anywhere. Well, almost anywhere. The truth is radar has always had one inescapable limitation – you need something solid to build one on…

In March 2019 NATS won approval to use ADS-B to provide a full radar service for helicopter operations in the North Sea. This is the first approval of its kind allowing the use of ADS-B to this level in the UK.

From 28 March to the 31 August over 4,400 more flights were assigned their requested level when compared to 2018, meaning our trial performance is already indicating noteworthy fuel burn and environmental improvements.

As our skies become increasingly busy, we want to create an environment where everyone knows as much as possible about the traffic in the airspace around them, making it safer for all.

You will have hopefully seen today’s news that NATS has started a trial promoting the use of ADS-B by General Aviation that encourages pilots to connect a transponder to a non-certified GPS source.