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| Crowded? A time-lapse picture puts it in perspective... |
Julian Bray Broadcaster and Aviation Expert will be discussing the whole issue of air corridors and air traffic control, live on air, BBC Local Radio stations at various times during the late afternoon 'Drivetime programmes. It will be a live conversation in the studio and a lively debate is promised, as protest groups are also being invited to put their point of view......
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| Art installation on board RCI Navigator of the Seas |
Its being claimed by some media outlets that Air Traffic Controllers are warning that "UK skies are running out of room" because of a record number of flights. Well that isn't technically correct, what they are really saying is that the airspace together with the air corridors specifically controlled by Air Traffic Controllers is getting very crowded, as the orginal system was thought up decades ago and is no longer appropriate for the new breed of environmentally friendly hushed aircraft.
This is being raised as today Friday is likely to be the busiest day of the year, with air traffic controllers expecting to handle more than 8,800 flights - a record number.
It has to be a co-incidence that our recently elected MPs broke up for the long Summer recess yesterday and are already flying out to their holiday retreats and no doubt more bottles of warm Prosecco....
It has to be a co-incidence that our recently elected MPs broke up for the long Summer recess yesterday and are already flying out to their holiday retreats and no doubt more bottles of warm Prosecco....
It is however correct that ATC is pressing for a drastic rethink and update in the way aircraft are guided across UK controlled airspace, and this will put the airport and environmental protesters, and those in favour of extended airways and air corridor expansion at loggerheads.
In the meantime, Government has launched a consultation to look at the whole ATC question and its development over the next 30 years, however some say this is just a fudge, to get over the problems thrown up by Brexit and the ending of the EU section of the 'open skies' agreement.
Of course when this was all set up, no one had remotely ever considered the UK leaving the European Union, and the implications of Brexit.
It is hoped that - Brexit willing - the consultation will shape the UK's aviation industry for the next 30 years. To put it in context Air traffic controllers expect to manage a record 770,000 flights in UK airspace over the summer - 40,000 more than last year.
But the ability of the UK's National Air Traffic Control Service (Nats) to deal with this surge is being stretched to the limit, it is claimed.
NATNOTE: NATS is a public private partnership between the Airline Group***, which holds 42%, NATS staff who hold 5%, UK airport operator LHR Airports Limited with 4%, and the government which holds 49%, and a golden share.
*** The Airline Group comprises:
- USS Sherwood Limited
- British Airways PLC
- Pension Protection Fund
- easyJet Airline Company Limited
- Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited
- Deutsche Lufthansa AG
- Thomson Airways Limited
- Thomas Cook Airlines Limited
UK flights handled as of 16:20 hrs Friday
- Departed today 2,653
- Landed today 2,248
- Currently airborne 548
- Handled yesterday 8,124
Updated today FRIDAY at 16:20
Source: BBCNews, CAA, NATS,CNS,
JULIAN BRAY +44(0)1733 345581, Journalist & Broadcaster, Aviation Security & Airline Operations Analyst/expert, ... Travel & Holiday Guru www.aviationcomment.com, ... http://www.freelancedirectory.org/user.php?user=8121 ... www.freelancedirectory.org?name=Julian.Bray.aviation.comment, ... Aviation / Travel / Maritime & Cruise Industries, NUJ, EQUITY, LIVE ISDN LINK, Broadcast ISDN COOBE ++44 (0)1733 345020 ... SKYPE: JULIAN.BRAY.UK e&oe Old faithful NOKIA: 07944 217476
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