Bank holiday boost for NATS in May 2013

The latest figures from the UK’s leading provider of air traffic services, NATS, taken from the company’s monthly traffic summary, show that the two bank holiday weekends positively impacted the growth of UK flights in May 2013. On several occasions, traffic volumes even reached the highs of 2007 levels.

NATS handled 197,418 flights in May 2013, with total growth of UK flights for the month equalling 1.5% compared to May 2012, when one of the bank holidays was deferred to June to combine with the additional bank holiday given to mark H.M The Queen’s Golden Jubilee. The start of the schools half term and flights associated with the Champions League Final held at Wembley also contributed to the increase.

Movements at NATS airports also showed growth of 1.5%, with London City’s growth registering 9.9% and Bristol 7.6%, showing the highest increases this month.

NATS Managing Director Operations Martin Rolfe said: “May proved to be a good month for NATS, for number of movements as well as for flight delays that are attributable to air traffic control. While the two incidents of 24 May warped the monthly delay average, looking at the figures from the period of January to May 2013, 99.9% of all flights handled by NATS were not delayed, equivalent to the same period last year.”

“While delay is an important element to measure, safety is always our top priority, and NATS safety record for May remained exceptional.”