This month, Project Bluebird has received major national recognition through multiple prestigious awards. This recognition reflects the strength of collaboration, curiosity and ambition, and the growing interest in our work across the aviation, technology and research communities.

One of the priorities for NATS is to work with Gatwick to support their strategic vision for growth and an enhanced passenger experience. Today, we delivered the biggest change to Gatwick air traffic control for decades, with the introduction of a second ground movement controller (GMC) position in the tower.

When people think about innovation in air traffic management, they probably picture new tools in the control room or new ways of managing traffic in the skies.  But important innovation also happens much earlier than that in how we identify, assess and support the people who will one day be responsible for keeping aircraft safely separated.

Changing the UK’s airspace is a meticulous process that requires significant planning. It cannot be done quickly, and every step is shaped by requirements from the Department for Transport (DfT) and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). These regulations ensure that changes remain safe and fair, while supporting wider sector goals such as emissions reduction, management of noise impact and capacity growth.  

Last month I was at the International Airport Summit in Berlin, where one theme cut through almost every discussion, panel and product demo: predictability, not performance is now what airports care most about.

In aviation, where precision, safety and efficiency are paramount, data can have an ever-increasing positive impact as we address the many challenges facing our rapidly evolving industry. That was the focus of ‘Analytics in Aviation 2025’, an internal conference that brought together more than 100 people from across NATS to hear customers, colleagues and partner organisations discuss how data, AI and advanced analytics are shaping the future of aviation.

For the past seven years Aberdeen has been at the forefront of our work to enable safe beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations in segregated airspace. What has happened so far – and what are the future plans?

Pairwise is the latest example of how Intelligent Approach is helping airports to make the absolute most out of their available runways, but we’re also working on some other developments on the longer-term horizon. The one I’m most excited about is called Curved Approach.

With global air traffic now matching or exceeding pre-pandemic levels, airports face growing pressure to optimise existing resources. Ahead of the International Airport Summit (IAS) in Berlin this November, International Airport Review (IAR) editor Holly Miles spoke with Chris Miles (Calgary Airport Authority) and Marco Rueckert (Searidge Technologies) about why this challenge is so urgent, the possible solutions, and what’s on the horizon.

To keep up with growing demand for air travel, a major programme is in progress to upgrade the UK’s airspace infrastructure. Airspace modernisation aims to reduce emissions, improve efficiency and capacity and harness the latest technologies – both on the ground and in the air.