Nats in crisis as planes grounded

NATS, the privatised air traffic control system already hit by computer breakdowns, has seen a dramatic slump in the number of planes using its airspace. New figures shown to Financial Mail reveal that the National Air Traffic Control System handled 10.8% fewer transatlantic flights in the first week of this month than in the equivalent week last year. Total air traffic was down 6%.

The fall in traffic across the Atlantic has having a devastating effect because flights between Europe and America produce more than 40% of Nats' income. Hopes have been dashed that huge increases in passenger numbers reported by low-cost airlines Go, easyJet and Ryanair last week would revive Nats' fortunes.

The number of plane movements is still substantially down because airlines have taken hundreds of aircraft out of service, and Nats is paid for the planes it handles, not passenger numbers.

Nats said: 'While the number of passengers may be increasing in the low-cost airlines, business is still bad and we are not out of the woods yet.' It is now feared that the cash-strapped organisation will be forced to dig into a £60m emergency aid package set up in February by Transport Secretary Stephen Byers and four banks that funded the privatisation.

Top Nats executives have asked the Civil Aviation Authority for permission to increase charges for handling flights in UK airspace. The CAA is unlikely to make a decision on the issue until July.

The breakdown last week of the new computerised air traffic system in Swanwick, Hampshire, has put Nats in the spotlight and the organisation has been forced to cut staff and costs.