I recently had the privilege of attending a panel at the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Sustainability Conference where, amongst other things such as airspace modernisation, new technologies, and ATM optimisation, I touched on the work NATS has been doing to develop an improved environmental metric for the aviation industry.

Over 70 representatives from the aviation industry joined us at Whiteley, for a Mass Diversion Exercise to trial a new tool being developed by EUROCONTROL. Airlines, airports, the CAA and Department for Transport helped us carry out a full-scale trial of an electronic interface, designed to improve the management of aircraft diversions during runway closures and weather events.