National Air Traffic Service (NATS) has signed a 10-year deal with Manchester Airports Group (MAG) to provide air traffic control and engineering services at Manchester and London Stansted airports, which are owned by MAG.

East Anglian Daily Times: The NATS (National Air Traffic Services) air traffic control centre at Swanwick, in Hampshire.The NATS (National Air Traffic Services) air traffic control centre at Swanwick, in Hampshire.

NATS has a long standing relationship with Manchester and Stansted Airports, built up over many years, and begins the new contract on April 1, 2015.

Andrew Cowan, chief operating officer for MAG, said: “NATS is highly regarded within the aviation industry and has a proven track record when it comes to aircraft and passenger safety, which is our shared priority. We believe that NATS is best placed to deliver a modern and efficient air traffic control service for our two largest airports. Both Manchester and Stansted are growing rapidly and we look forward to continuing our strong working relationship and growing a positive future for our airports.”

NATS director of operations Mike Stoller said: “Having worked with MAG and both airports for a number of years, we are looking forward to continuing our relationship and supporting MAG to achieve their growth ambitions in the future.

“We will be working in partnership with MAG to build on the safe and resilient service we provide today with innovative air traffic management solutions for their business going forward. Both airports have ambitious growth goals and we will work closely with MAG to ensure that increased air traffic movements and passenger numbers, can be successfully realised.”

In 2013, Manchester Airport opened a new £20million air traffic control tower, the second largest in the UK, in which NATS installed over 70 systems to support the air traffic control operation. This closely followed MAG’s £25m refurbishment of Manchester’s northern runway by the airport group.

Manchester is currently the third largest airport in the country with over 21 million passengers using the airport annually and London Stansted is the fourth largest serving over 18 million passengers a year.