London Luton Airport extends NATS contract

NATS has signed an agreement with London Luton Airport to extend the current contract for air traffic provision by two years. It will now run until November 2017.

The UK’s leading provider of air traffic services will therefore continue to provide tower and engineering services at the airport after retaining the contract in 2012 following a competitive tendering process.

NATS will also continue to provide approach services as part of its management of the London Terminal Manoeuvring Area, one of the most complex and busiest areas of airspace in the world.

Gill Clark, NATS General Manager at London Luton Airport, said: “We are delighted to be continuing our close relationship with the airport. This extension shows that NATS continues to offer an outstanding safe and efficient service and excellent value for money.”

“High quality air traffic management is vital to the smooth running of any airport, helping to minimise delays while maximising available capacity and that is what NATS does best. We look forward to working with London Luton Airport and their exciting development plans to reach 18 million passengers by 2031.”

Neil Thompson, London Luton Airport’s Operations Director, said: “Our partnership with NATS will see us continue to work together to deliver safe and reliable services that can accommodate the increasing number of airlines and passengers who choose to use London Luton for its ease and convenience.”  

In 2013, London Luton Airport carried 9.7 million passengers with NATS controllers handling 97,615 flights making it the fifth busiest passenger airport in the UK.