Whether you're running a major international airport or a smaller regional operation, your customers have the same high expectations. They want their passengers to travel as safely and smoothly as possible through your airport, and they want complete confidence in your ability to help them deliver a first class service.

Whatever the traffic patterns at your airport, you're under pressure to minimise any delays whilst never compromising on safety. If you're to meet your customers' financial and environmental expectations then you need to ensure, for example, that aircraft take off in the optimum order and burn as little fuel on the runway as possible. And the challenge isn't only to plan and schedule as cost-effectively as possible for today: you must also be equipped to manage increased capacity in the future.

Ready for kick-off in South Africa

We're helping to remodel the airspace and design the procedures.

Just ask how.

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Tailored solutions that tap into years of experience

NATS Services helps airport operators to manage their traffic as efficiently as possible and deliver the highest quality service to airlines and their passengers. Knowing that no two airports are the same, our first priority is always to invest time in understanding your unique challenges before proposing a solution.

The most obvious answer doesn't always make the best commercial sense. We'll ensure that you've optimised your capacity and are getting the most from your existing assets, so that infrastructure investments - such as a further runway - are made only when they're really needed, resulting in sizeable savings. With our breadth of expertise we're also able to see airports not in isolation but as part of an integrated global ATM network. So we consider, for example, the design of the airspace around the airport - a wider perspective that's crucial when addressing safety, capacity and efficiency issues.

There is now a greater focus than ever before on equipping airports to be as resilient as possible in the face of unplanned operational and security events, whether major or more minor. Preparing for the unknown has much to do with effective capacity planning and designing resilient schedules that can cope with unforeseen disturbances.

Staff training is another vital area to address: to rapidly get an airport back up and running after an emergency calls for well-trained and competent people.

Newcastle’s new tower

The tower we designed and built at Newcastle was ahead of time and under budget.

Just ask how.

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Strategic thinking coupled with tactical delivery

NATS Services is acutely aware of the importance of resilience, both for you and your passengers. We know that successfully managing unplanned events isn't just about tactical delivery on the day itself. It comes down to how you plan every aspect of your operation years in advance, from the design of the airport to the compilation of schedules and the training of your staff. We're a trusted partner in all these areas.

Sharing our specialist ATC knowledge is another way we add value. In an emergency it's more important than ever that all players in the airport community, including ATC, interface effectively and have a common view of what's happening. We have the tools and expertise to get all stakeholders working together in the most efficient way.

Preparing for every eventuality

We've helped many clients, both in the UK and overseas, to design resilience into their operations so that any emergency has minimum impact on their service delivery. We can help you to design schedules that are reliably robust at times of crisis and we can provide a full back-up contingency facility for your control tower, remote from your airport. In the UK, we also have a network of highly-qualified field engineers - based at our customers' sites or close by - who ensure that should an equipment problem arise, your system is back up and running as soon as possible. We can also recommend which technology will best improve your operational resilience. At Heathrow and other airports, we have for example project managed the introduction of highly advanced surveillance systems which provide much more accurate and timely information about aircraft positions. Advising on and specifying navigational aids designed to work in adverse weather conditions, such as instrument or microwave landing systems, is a further illustration of how we help airports to increase their resilience.

Having the right infrastructure is vital if you're to keep pace with increasing capacity as well as with the latest standards and regulation. But deciding on the best investments, and getting a guaranteed return, isn't always easy.

Independent advice and a proven track record

Having gained a thorough insight into your operation and what you're looking to achieve, we'll specify the ATC infrastructure equipment appropriate to your environment. This equipment can vary from complete control towers through to a wide variety of communications, surveillance and navigation systems. We then project manage the procurement and installation, also providing staff training to make sure the implementation is as smooth and efficient as possible. Very importantly, we ensure that any new equipment integrates effectively with your existing systems and we get safety case approval for the system to go live.

By drawing on our depth and breadth of expertise, you can have complete confidence that your infrastructure investment will deliver the returns you expect and that your projects will be delivered on schedule and within budget. Our knowledge and understanding of regulatory standards will save you valuable time, whilst the fact that our equipment recommendations are supplier-independent will ensure you invest in the best value solutions.

Specifying and installing optimum solutions

One illustration of delivering safety- and performance-enhancing technology to our customers is the provision of a multilateration system in the North Sea. At Aberdeen Airport, which is relied upon by oil and gas companies, this new system will improve offshore flight safety by allowing controllers to see helicopters on their display screens in areas of the North Sea which until now have been beyond the reach of land-based radars. It will be easier for controllers to ensure that helicopters maintain the correct track and height, and to locate helicopters in an emergency.

The system uses signal transmitters and receivers fitted to offshore oil and gas platforms to track and identify individual helicopters. It's the world's first operational use of multilateration to track offshore flights.

As environmental pressures continue to increase, so governments and airlines are looking to ATC providers to do all they can to help them minimise their environmental footprint. Airport operators also have their own challenging emissions targets. And the public, too, expects to see evidence of environmental commitment from all players in the aviation industry.

The knowledge and expertise to deliver real, tangible benefits

We start by understanding your environmental goals. We'll then audit your operation in order to identify opportunities for improvement and suggest specific actions you can take which will deliver real, tangible returns.

We may, for example, help you to redesign your airspace and procedures - and seek the necessary regulatory approval on your behalf - to enable your controllers to bring in aircraft using continuous descent approaches, a more fuel-efficient way of landing.

Another option could be utilising our 'target start time' generator, a tool we've developed to ensure aircraft engines are started at specific times in order to achieve the most efficient outbound order and minimise holding point queuing times, thereby delivering environmental as well as economic benefits.

Similarly, through advising on effective data management we can ensure that all ancillary services - such as baggage handlers, the fire service and stand management - share a common view of what's happening at the airport. With a clear and integrated picture of when aircraft will land and estimated turnaround times, you can ensure an optimised departure sequence and minimise delays at take-off. Once again, the dividends are both environmental and financial.

The aviation industry is one of the most heavily regulated in the world. International and national safety and operational standards - as laid down by ICAO, Single European Sky legislation and national authorities - are continually evolving and it's vital that airport operators keep pace and ensure their compliance. The SESAR project, for example, will transform the management of Europe's airspace and set new ATM standards and procedures with which all airports will need to comply.

Expert guidance that will save you time and money

As the provider of the UK's Aeronautical Information Service, we have developed the skills and tools to enable the UK to meet the new ICAO Annex 15 data quality standards and to help airports and air navigation service providers from around the world to manage the transition to these new requirements.

Similarly, because of our involvement in helping to shape Single European Sky legislation, and the fact that ensuring legislative compliance is an integral part of the service contracts we have with 15 airports across the UK, we're ideally placed to advise you on the implications of new legislation and to guide you through the necessary steps to compliance. We can help improve your visibility of what's coming down the line, which means you're able to prepare and plan much more effectively and keep costs to a minimum.