NATS signs agreement with leading industry technology firm, IDS 

The air traffic services provider, NATS has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the aviation technology firm IDS Ingegneria Dei Sistemi S.p.A.; it was announced today at the World ATM Congress in Madrid.

IDS is an independent engineering and systems technologies company that provides a range of state-of-the-art air traffic, airport and drone management tools for both civil and defence applications.

The Italian-based company has long been an important supplier to NATS, providing the tools used to create, simulate and test the suitability of new airspace designs and procedures. This has recently been expanded to include the use of IDS’ advanced suite of 3D modelling tools for airport safeguarding.

The signing of the MoU indicates the desire by both companies to work together on future commercial opportunities in the UK and around the world.

Martin Rolfe of NATS and IDS’ Massimo Garbini

On signing the agreement, Martin Rolfe, NATS Chief Executive, said: “Expertise around airspace design, airport safeguarding and capacity management are going to be increasingly in demand around the world as traffic continues to grow. Combining our operational skill and experience with IDS’ technology means we can offer something very compelling to customers and I’m excited to see where this relationship will go.”

“This agreement with NATS aims to create a partnership to implement innovative systems to guarantee safe operations for ATM globally,” Massimo Garbini, Chief Executive Officer of IDS Ingegneria Dei Sistemi S.p.A. said.

“As a result, the MoU signed today confirms and strengthens the existing cooperation between NATS and IDS.”

NATS and IDS have previously worked together on projects in the UK and the Asia Pacific region.