While the biggest sustainability issues facing aviation are related to aircraft fuel burn, emissions and noise, there are many good reasons for Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs), like us, to reduce the impact of their own operations too.

I went to Westminster last night with the CEO of Heathrow to meet a group of MPs to discuss what their constituents are telling them is more flights and more noise over their homes.

With the advent of more sophisticated satellite based navigation systems it’s now possible for aircraft to follow routes with an incredible level of accuracy. That means we’re able to be smarter about airport arrivals using a concept called Linear Holding.

Working together has enabled Sustainable Aviation (SA) to achieve results we could never have achieved individually, and there’s plenty more for us to do.

Aviation produces greenhouse gases, that’s a fact we can’t ignore and yet at the same time the world has become addicted to flying. Later today I will be speaking at the UN Climate Change Summit in Paris to demonstrate some of what we’re doing to deliver CO2 emission reductions.

At NATS we strive to be environmentally efficient in our operational and corporate work and support the community through charity and voluntary work.

In 2008, when we established our environmental programme as one of our core business values, NATS signalled a shift in culture, putting environment at the heart of our operation for the first time, and setting the expectation for our employees to act responsibly in everything they do.

Continuous Descents Operations (CDOs) mitigate noise by keeping aircraft higher for longer. They can offer noise reductions of between 1 to 5 decibels per aircraft on the approach from between 25 to around 10 miles to touchdown.

Smarter and more collaborative working is the best way to be efficient and ensure we can be sustainable as an industry.

This is the third annual World ATM Congress trade show and we’re looking forward to welcoming delegates onto our stand to talk with our team and watch a range of technical demonstrations, as well as participate in more light hearted activities in the form of refreshments and games.