ANS takes over tower services from NATS at Gatwick
The transfer of operations from the current provider NATS is the culmination of a 14-month transition effort, the largest of its kind ever completed. The company, wholly owned by the German air navigation service provider DFS, will provide air traffic control and air traffic engineering services over a 10-year period at what is the world’s busiest single runway airport with a maximum of 55 aircraft movements per hour. London Gatwick Airport is also Europe's leading airport for point-to-point flights serving more than 200 destinations in 90 countries and in 2015 the rolling total of passengers exceeded 40 million.
Managing Director Werner Spier commented: “The incredible effort from everyone involved in the transition resulted in a smooth and seamless handover of services. We are now looking forward to delivering high-quality services to Gatwick Airport and its customers in the coming years and providing the wider market with flexible, transparent and customer-centric air traffic control services.”
In a statement NATS said 'We are very proud of our track record at Gatwick, which is, by a large margin, the busiest and most efficient single runway in the world and where NATS last summer delivered a record 934 movements in a single day. We have worked closely with ANS to ensure a safe and professional transition, including seconding 24 employees to support the operation for the next two years'.
NATS will continue to provide approach control to Gatwick from its centre at Swanwick.
Air Navigation Solutions Limited (ANS) is a limited company registered in England and Wales with its own board and management team. ANS is a wholly owned subsidiary of the DFS Group which is based in Germany.