UK air traffic control goes private

The UK's National Air Traffic Services (Nats) is looking for a strategic partner to invest £1bn into digital air traffic control.

Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, announced yesterday that the publicly-owned service will be partially privatised to raise the funds. The government will hand over a 49 per cent stake to the private sector in return for £1bn and management expertise.

Prescott told Silicon.com: "Our partner will have to be someone with a pretty good track record in technology projects."

Nats MD, Bill Semple, said the vast majority of the money will be invested in technology. "The future of air traffic control lies in software systems, especially as air traffic levels are rising," he said.

Semple's top priority is to complete two air traffic control centres in Swanwick, Hampshire, and Prestwick, Scotland, using Lockheed Martin systems. Both centres have suffered lengthy delays due to systems problems, but Semple said he intends to use them as showcases for the international market. "We will have the two most modern systems in the world, and we can export our expertise for use in international digital satellite communications," he claimed.

As a publicly funded service, Nats is currently not allowed to take on commercial contracts abroad. But Semple said: "This partial privatisation gives Nats the opportunity to be at the front of the train in a changing world. The big prize is running air traffic control centres in Africa from an office in London."

Semple said he expects Nats to expand in the next three to five years. But Prescott admitted that these plans rest on the success of the troubled Swanwick project. "It's like waiting for Godot at the moment, isn't it?" he said.