Yesterday I joined colleagues at the World ATM Congress for a discussion about some of the key challenges facing those of us in the world of air traffic management in the years to come.

A few weeks ago NATS launched a new report from Oxford Economics, on the economic benefits of improvements to Middle East air traffic control. People from all over the world took part in a live debate, We received a number of questions, some of which I’ve addressed in my latest blog.

Visitors are invited to a number of technical demonstrations hosted by our experts on the following topics: Cross Border Arrival Management (XMAN), Time Based Separation (TBS), Airport Capacity Management (ACM) and Flight Optimisation System (FloSys).

We’ll be featuring ACM on our NATS Stand and I will be giving technical demonstrations on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. If you’re attending the Congress and are interested in ACM, please do come along and I’d be very happy to tell you more.

A new Multilateration System has been transitioned into operational service at Heathrow Airport. To transition such a highly integrated system in a complex and busy airfield environment – and without any operational impact – was certainly a challenge.

Every day, Heathrow Airport operates at over 98% capacity, a phenomenal achievement that drives the controllers in the tower to deliver the best service every minute of every day.

For NATS optimisation is about helping airlines, airport operators and other air navigation service providers to reach their full capability and get the best from their existing resources, assets and infrastructure.

NATS is increasingly being asked for our advice on when more runways might be needed, how to manage demands of global events like the Olympics, and how to reduce delays or move more aircraft.

Nick Webb is Head of Commercial at NATS and an expert on organisational transformation. In this video he shares his views on the risks and benefits of liberalisation, and how to ensure a successful transition.

We’re showcasing some of the work we have been doing on airport and airspace capacity at the World ATM Congress in Madrid. Val Wilson is an expert in capacity management. In this video she describes some of the work NATS is doing to release capacity around the world.