The Airspace Change Organising Group (ACOG) has published a new report, which highlights how upgrading the UK’s airspace is critical to delivering economic growth, reduced noise disturbance, more sustainable flights, more efficient routes, and a better all-round experience for passengers at UK airports. If airspace isn’t upgraded, or modernised, flights delays may increase by over 200 percent which would result in 1 in 5 flights experiencing disruption for over 45 minutes.

Included in the report are case studies from NATS, easyJet, Manchester Airport and Glasgow Chambers of Commerce on progress to date in upgrading the UK’s skies, the potential fuel and carbon emissions savings, benefits for airports and passengers, and how businesses stand to benefit.

The modernisation of airspace is already underway. There are 20 airports involved in a national airspace change programme alongside NATS, the UK’s main navigation service provider. Each are developing their own Airspace Change Proposal (ACP) as part of the programme, with ACOG playing a key role in coordinating these changes into a single plan – the Airspace Masterplan. The plan looks at potential areas of overlap and what trade-offs may be necessary to ensure they fit together seamlessly.

The report’s publication comes at an important time, with public consultations for the first proposed coordinated airspace changes planned in the next 6 months.

Mark Swan, Head of ACOG, said, “The UK’s airspace is an essential, but invisible, part of our national infrastructure. At a time where delivering growth, innovation and sustainability are high up the agenda for both Government and industry, it is vital that we continue to push ahead with our plans for airspace modernisation and deliver a modern airspace that makes flying cleaner, quieter, and quicker. This report is an important reminder of the benefits airspace modernisation can bring to passengers, local communities, industry, the environment and the economy. ACOG will continue to work closely with the airports involved in the airspace change programme, in particular those clusters that will be publicly consulting on their proposals in the coming months.”

ACOG was formed in 2019 to deliver airspace modernisation and create a coordinated Airspace Change Masterplan for UK

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