Air Traffic Control Association award for NATS’ Head of Environment

The head of NATS’ Environment department has been awarded The Chairman’s Citation of Merit Award by the Air Traffic Control Association (ATCA).

Ian Jopson, Head of Environment and Community Affairs, won the accolade in recognition of his ongoing work and achievements in driving for a cleaner, quieter, more sustainable future for aviation.

Under his leadership NATS was the first air traffic management company in the world to set CO₂ targets on the air traffic service provided to customers. NATS has committed to reduce air traffic related CO₂ by an average of 10% per flight by 2020, and delivered a challenging interim target to achieve a 4% reduction by the end of 2014.

He has driven innovation in the modelling of aviation emissions, leading to the development of a new airspace efficiency metric called 3Di. Subsequently 3Di was adopted as a regulatory measure to financially incentivise NATS environmental performance, another world first.

He was presented with the award at the 61^st ATCA Annual Awards in Maryland, USA on Monday 17 October.

Ian Jopson said: “It’s really humbling to have been recognised in this way and, while it’s seen as an individual award, I think it’s really an endorsement of the work of people across NATS, and the collaborative cross-industry effort we’re all making to drive aviation sustainability.”

Jonathan Astill, Europe, Africa and Middle East Director for ATCA, said: “Congratulations to Ian for this award. It is a real accolade for him, the team and NATS as a whole for the hard work that has been done in committing to reduce NATS’ environmental impact and working collaboratively towards a sustainable future for aviation.”

Photo caption: Neil Planzer, Chairman, ATCA, presents Ian Jopson, Head of Environment and Community Affairs, NATS, with the Chairman’s Citation of Merit Award