Changes to UK airspace are to be laid out in a bill presented to the UK parliament today (Jun 2).

The changes to be laid in Parliament will enable the largest redesign of UK airspace since it was first formed in the 1950s, when there were only around 200,000 flights per year, compared to 2.7 million in 2024.

Under the proposals, the new UK Airspace Design Service (UKADS) will be fully operational by the end of 2025 and will be run by NATS (En Route) plc (NERL).

It is hoped that modernising the airspace will open up capacity, supporting growth and thousands of jobs in the aviation and tourism sectors, as well as reducing delays and emissions per flight resulting from planes circling in the sky while waiting to land.

READ: Gatwick CEO  ‘will not rest’ until NATS offers ‘seamless service’

Redesigned ‘skyways’ could also allow planes to climb quicker during take-off and descend more smoothly, reducing noise and air pollution for residents who live along flight routes.

The UKADS’ initial focus will be on redesigning London’s airspace, particularly as Heathrow is set to handle a significant increase in flights as the airport expands with a third runway.

Over a longer timeframe, the UKADS could design routes that support flight paths for new and emerging technologies such as drones and flying taxis, spurring British innovation and delivering highly skilled jobs in the tech space.

The Department for Transport will continue working with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to ensure the swift delivery of these new and improved routes, as well as to ensure independent oversight of the UKADS roll-out.

Explaining that modernising airspace is one of the simplest ways to reduce aircraft pollution, Aviation Minister, Mike Kane, said:  Redesigned ‘skyways’ will turbocharge growth in the aviation industry, not least by boosting airport expansion plans and supporting job creation, driving millions into the UK economy as part of the Plan for Change”.

READ: World Aviation Festival: Willie Walsh slams NATS outage report as ‘just rubbish’ (2023)

The measures will help secure the long-term future of the sector and make it more resilient to disruption. The plans come as global forecasts show a near doubling of passengers and cargo in the next 20 years.

One modernisation measure in the south west of England has already been estimated to save 12,000 tonnes a year, enough to power 7 trips around the world, with further modernisation plans expected to deliver even greater results.

Welcoming the proposals, Martin Rolfe, CEO of NATS, said: The UK’s airspace network is one of the busiest and most complex in the world. We handle a quarter of Europe’s traffic despite having only 11% of its airspace, with one of the best safety and delay records anywhere. However, we have to modernise airspace if we are to maintain this level of performance as traffic grows towards 3 million flights per year.

The government’s announcement to create a UK Airspace Design Service is a crucial step, building on the work we’ve already completed in other parts of the UK. We look forward to working with the government and the CAA to finalise the details regarding the best way to implement the plan and the processes required to ensure UKADS is successful.