NATS commended for environmental success

NATS, the UKs leading provider of air traffic services, has successfully demonstrated that it is meeting the highest standards in environmental management across its airport control tower operations.

The award of ISO14001 certification demonstrates NATS’ continued commitment to delivering environmental protection within the aviation sector and is part of a broader piece of work by NATS to successfully implement an Environmental Management System across its UK tower operations.

Work on developing the Environmental Management System began 18 months ago and has since delivered improvements for both airspace operations and airport ground activities. Glasgow and Manchester were two of the first airports to receive this certification last year, and 12 others have since followed suit – including Heathrow and Aberporth Ranges.

Environmental improvements made as part of the programme include better aircraft continuous climb and descent performance, reduced energy consumption through improvements to buildings, reducing waste by encouraging recycling, and operating fully electric and ultra-low emissions vehicles to reduce fuel use and improve local air quality.

Mike Stoller, NATS Director Airports, said: “This has been wide ranging improvement programme covering not only how we manage our own estate and environmental impact but crucially also supporting our airport customers in meeting their future operational and environmental goals.  Congratulations to all those involved with this work and keep up the effort.”

Certification to ISO14001 demonstrates a commitment to compliance with regulations and other requirements, the principle of continual improvement in environmental performance and a commitment to pollution prevention.