Prestwick celebrates five years of achievements and milestones

In February 2010, the Princess Royal and ten year old Sophie Lafferty, whose late father, Laurence, was a controller at the centre, formally opened the Prestwick Control Centre in Ayrshire.

Our £180m Centre has responsibility for the largest area of airspace in Europe, providing air traffic control services (ATC) to 1.1 million aircraft per year.

Over the past five years, the 700 NATS employees based at Prestwick, have collectively witnessed numerous milestones and achievements, ranging from the introduction of the Mode S tool in 2010 to the recent implementation of GAATS+, the world’s most advanced oceanic air traffic system.

Fully operational since the end of January 2010, making it one of the most modern centres in Europe, the ATC relationship with Ayrshire actually goes back some 70 years with the early centre operations, Redbrae, dating back to the 1940s.

You can read all about this colourful history and take a trip down memory lane with this amazing timeline of the Prestwick Control Centre that details the most significant milestones from 1939 to the present day and also includes some mesmerising photographs.

Prestwick Interactive Timeline