Controllers ensure a smooth arrival for the Olympic flame

Staff in Area Control and Western Radar played their part in bringing the Olympic flame to the UK tonight.

The British Airways flight – BA 2012 – from Athens arrived in UK airspace around 6pm and, after flying along the south coast of England, exited controlled airspace just south of Exeter.

The flight – which as well as the flame carried the Princess Royal, Olympic Games organising committee chairman Lord Coe and footballer David Beckham – received a deconfliction service from Western Radar before being handed on to Royal Navy approach controllers at Culdrose in Cornwall.

The gold-liveried British Airways aircraft, named Firefly, landed just before 7.30pm at the Cornish Royal Naval Air Station.

General Manager Terminal Control and lead for the Olympics project Paul Haskins said: “All the preparation we have done as a company getting ready for London 2012 is now very real.

“We have helped bring the flame to the UK – the first of many tasks that staff throughout NATS will be performing over the next four months to ensure that London 2012 has a successful Olympic Games.”