- a further £3.7 million has
been made available to support airports in
reducing journey times, pollution and flight delays
- the new funding, on top of £5.5 million in government
investment announced last year, will drive forward progress
in redesigning the UK’s ‘motorways in the sky’ and
will benefit passengers, airports and the communities
surrounding them
- redesign will play an important role
in the drive
to reduce aviation emissions as part of the
government’s commitment to reach net zero
Faster, quieter and greener journeys by air are one
step closer today (21 January 2022) thanks to a further £3.7
million investment in redesigning the UK’s motorways in
the sky, the government has confirmed.
The funding will support our programme to modernise the
UK’s airspace for the first time since the 1950s, helping
the aviation industry build back better from the COVID-19
pandemic and create
a resilient, efficient airspace that
is fit for the future.
It will support airports to develop new, more efficient flight
routes that make use of modern technology, such as
performance-based navigation, which will enable aircraft to fly
more precise routes.
Today’s £3.7 million in new funding brings
the total funding to £9.2 million, after an initial round
of investment in March 2021, and is being provided on an
exceptional basis while the sector recovers from the impacts of
the pandemic.
Yesterday, Aviation Minister
announced the funding boost from London City
Airport, one of the airports to receive a share of the
initial funding last year.
Aviation Minister said:
By redesigning our skies, we are creating a modern UK airspace
that is fit for future generations and makes journeys quicker,
quieter and greener.
This £3.7 million funding will support the industry in
upgrading our airspace, allowing
the aviation sector to continue to grow while
we build back greener, cut carbon
emissions and deliver on our ambitious plans to reach
jet zero.
Mark Swan, Head of the Airspace Change Organising Group (ACOG),
said:
The announcement of today’s funding enables the industry to move
on confidently to the next stage of modernising the UK’s
airspace.
This programme is a critical national infrastructure project for
the UK and will deliver benefits across the country – from
increasing efficiencies in the routes aircraft fly to supporting
the industry to deliver its net zero targets.
With airspace not updated since the 1950s, it remains a programme
that is long overdue.
Today’s additional funding maintains momentum behind the
programme following its remobilisation and we look forward to our
continued engagement with the government, CAA and airspace change
sponsors in delivering airspace modernisation for the country.
The airport sponsors of the programme will resume responsibility
for funding future stages, as the sector continues its recovery.
Britain’s airspace is made up of a complex network of flight
paths that have seen little development since they were designed
70 years ago, despite a surge in demand on our airspace from
commercial planes to private aircraft, the military and drones.
In recent years, this has led to increased flight delays, noise
and pollution. Without action, our congested airspace could have
meant that passengers would have seen 30-minute delays on 1 in 3
flights by 2030.
Redesigning our airspace will enable aircraft to
fly more direct, precise routes, with faster climbs and a reduced
need for holding patterns – cutting up to an approximate 600,000
tonnes of CO2 annually,
according to early analysis.
Alongside moving to best-in-class aircraft and more efficient
aviation operations, airspace modernisation could help to deliver
up to 36% of CO2savings by
2050.
Plans to modernise the UK’s airspace are just one of a number
of measures that will make up the UK’s strategy to deliver
net zero aviation by 2050, or jet zero, which is set to be
published this year.
Today’s £3.7 million in funding will support airports to
continue progressing through the second stage of the airspace
change process, which involves developing and evaluating
potential designs for changes to our airspace.
In the next stage, airports will launch public consultations
on their proposed airspace changes.
