The Department for Transport (DfT) is proposing to modify the NATS (En Route) plc (NERL) licence to establish a UK airspace design service (UKADS) that will allow NERL to make, or develop with a view to making, an airspace change proposal to the CAA and sponsor those proposals through the CAA’s airspace design process (CAP 1616).
The proposed amendments aim to modernise UK airspace and primarily enable:
+ The reduction of carbon emissions;
+ Improved efficiency;
+ Increased safety; and
+ An integration of new technologies, such as drones.
Both the DfT and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has long aspired toward airspace modernisation through the Airspace Modernisation Strategy (AMS, CAP 1711 Part 1 AMS 2023-2040). However, as airspace design is currently sponsored and carried out by individual airports and air navigation service provides, this has led to problems in the delivery of airspace change proposals (ACPs) given the multiple overlapping ACPs with separate sponsors, complicating and slowing progress in the area. The aim, therefore, is to provide a more holistic approach and primarily to make UKADS a function of NERL.
The DfT is seeking views on the proposed changes and you can have your say by visiting the Consultation page, here. The Consultation closes at 11:59pm on 1 October 2025.
Click here to read more.
