Future Airspace

Airspace is the term usually used to refer to the area from the ground to a height of 66,000ft. UK airspace is among the busiest in the world and therefore needs to be managed carefully to make sure we can provide safe and reliable journeys.

NATS is responsible for managing UK airspace, through their air traffic control centres. Individual airports, such as London Stansted Airport are responsible for managing their local airspace, making sure that arriving and departing aircraft are safety co-ordinated with the national control centre and other airports nearby.

The way we manage airspace remains largely unchanged since the 1950s and with an increase in demand for air travel, our airspace is reaching capacity. Although advances in technology have brought improvements, a lot of the way our skies are managed was for a different time. For example, to keep aircraft safe NATS builds in delay when the airspace gets too busy. While today flights experience only around 10 seconds of air traffic control delay. It is forecast that by 2030 passengers could face delays of more than 30 minutes. Early analysis by NATS also suggests airspace modernisation could deliver up to 20 per cent of annual savings in fuel burn and CO2 emissions.

The modern ways of flying that are available to us might mean that we can make customers’ journeys more reliable, reduce the effects flying has on our environment and make further improvements in safety.

There are a number of stakeholders involved in this programme, however the CAA have overall responsibility for the process of modernising airspace. The Government expects all UK airports to modernise airspace close to their runway (below 7,000ft) and our national air traffic service provider (NATS) are modernising airspace at higher altitudes (above 7,000ft). To makes sure that all the changes to lower and higher altitudes work together, the Government and the CAA have set up a new body, the Airspace Change Organisation Group (ACOG) to co-ordinate the program of airspace modernisation projects

The CAA have set out a formal process, called CAP1616, that all airports must follow throughout their airspace change programme. CAP1616 outlines a number of detailed stages that must be followed, with the CAA approval required at the end of each in order to progress. You can find out more about CAP1616 by following this link to the CAA’s website.

You can find out more information about London Stansted Airport’s current operations by clicking here.

We have created an independent Stakeholder Reference Group (SRG) to challenge and provide advice on our communication and consultation plans. The SRG will be made up of a selection of stakeholders and will meet periodically during the Future Airspace project to comment on and review the process that London Stansted Airport uses during the whole CAP1616 review.

If you would like to be kept up to date with developments, please email futureairspace@stanstedairport.com with the following information and we will add you to our mailing list:

• Your name

• Your postcode

• Your Email address or postal address

In line with General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), the information you provide will be used solely for the purpose of corresponding with you about future airspace and all details will be destroyed at the end of the programme. You can find our data protection policy by following this link.

• CAP1711 Airspace Modernisation Strategy

• CAP1616_Airspace Change Edition 4 Mar2021