NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC SERVICES is closing down its operation near Heathrow as part of a ”1bn modernisation program. NATS said it would move 500 staff from West Drayton to its existing Swanwick operations at Fareham by 2007. The move is part of NATS' plan to control UK airspace from Swanwick and Prestwick by 2010 instead of the existing four. The partly-privatised body is implementing a plan to modernise Britain's air traffic control system and add enough capacity to deal with three million flights per year by 2012, up from two million in 2003. NATS was criticized in June last year after a computer failure briefly grounded all aircraft in Britain at peak time in the morning, causing airport chaos. NATS is 49% owned by the British government, 42% by a consortium of UK airlines, 4% by BAA and 5% by staff.
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