Behind the scenes flight planning with Santa
2 December 2015On 24 December, UK airspace hosts the most important flight of the year; someone to whom the normal rules of the air do not apply. The person is, of course, Santa Claus.
Safety is always our top priority, so preparations for the big night begin earlier in the year when the man himself makes a low-key visit to NATS. His flight plan for Christmas Eve is discussed in detail and he meets the air traffic controllers who play such a pivotal role in guiding his flight.
Delivering presents to the millions of children on Santa’s N.I.C.E. List (National Inventory of Child Escapades) in just a few hours is incredibly complex work so the planning has to be meticulous. Working together we take into account the delivery schedule and decreasing weight of the on-board cargo versus the increasing weight of the pilot (millions of cookies and mince pies soon add up).
We make a list and check it twice.
This year we were actually able to film some of Santa’s visit to NATS, and while he refused to be interviewed, he has agreed that we can share it with you. We hope you agree it gives an insight into someone who is truly a unique airspace user. Enjoy.
NATS Christmas Video 2015 from NATS on Vimeo.
You may also be interested in...
Art of the Airport Tower
Read more
Route planning for Santa this Christmas Eve
Read moreComments
Please respect our commenting policy and guidelines when posting on this website.
02.12.2015
15:20
David Hinton
Wonderful!
02.12.2015
20:35
Beverley Austin-Smith
Love it
02.12.2015
20:55
Kostas Patouras
Brilliant! This is excellent publicity! Congrats to those who thought it out!
03.12.2015
09:52
Margaret knowles
To all Mums and Dads
Just to prove that Santa does fly round the world on Christmas Eve,
04.12.2015
17:07
Marita Lintener
What a great video! I believe in the Single European Sky and that Santa is delivering in Germany too 😉
Have a nice Christmas for the NATS team as well!
04.12.2015
21:42
Christine King
Brilliant!
05.12.2015
10:47
BOG
fantastic and to think I was a sceptic before seeing the proof he is REAL.Good job he chose Britain NATS and not the French one as they would probably strike over a bank holiday . Have a great Christmas all who read this .
06.12.2015
17:05
David Pendall
Keeping the magic alive. Well Done. And Happy Christmas
07.12.2015
20:14
Rebecca Carter
This is absolutely brilliant. I can’t wait to show my grandson that this is what we do at work.
08.12.2015
14:34
Richard Coates
Brilliant and good luck to Santa One!
08.12.2015
15:51
lisa
Good idea!
from joe and livvy
16.12.2015
16:12
John Vincent
Excellent. Yes, the normal rules of the air do not apply. Nevertheless, is the sleigh TCAS equipped? 😉
17.12.2015
13:38
Ken
Will SANTA1 be using RLatSM over the North Atlantic?
17.12.2015
19:22
Hanan Qabartai
Very nice and very related idea.
Wish all NATS colleagues a wonderful Christmas and Happy new year.
21.12.2015
12:26
keithpeers247
Love it.
21.12.2015
14:03
Paul Treadwll
Fantastic!- Merry Christmas to everyone at NATS. Thanks for the great job you do all year round not just at Xmas time!!
22.12.2015
20:38
Cesare 7
I love it
Ciao