Aerospace

NATS and CAAi sign international cooperation agreement

Posted 20 June 2017

NATS Services Limited and CAA International (CAAi) have signed a landmark agreement to cooperate and partner on future international consultancy projects, in an effort to raise global aviation safety standards.

Above: NATS and CAAi sign international cooperation agreement. (Left to right) Matthew Margesson; CAAi Head of International Development. Maria Rueda; CAAi Managing Director. Andy Head; NATS Business Development Director. Sean Jones; NATS Head of Commercial Strategy.

Signed by Andy Head, Business Development Director for NATS and Maria Rueda, Managing Director for CAAi, the agreement supports future collaboration on overseas capacity building programmes. Combining NATS’ expertise in airspace design, management and air traffic services and CAAi’s regulatory oversight capability, both parties intend to unite on aviation projects where they can complement one another and provide states with the best possible solution to regulatory compliance. At the same time, the agreement stipulates strict rules of engagement to mitigate any conflict of interest arising from the cooperation.

Maria Rueda, Managing Director of CAAi, said: “We are delighted to have signed this agreement with NATS and we look forward to working together. Increasingly, the overseas aviation regulators we work with require regulatory expertise in safety and security oversight, as well as air traffic services. By collaborating on these projects, both parties are equipped to make the biggest positive impact to the global aviation community for the interest of passengers and operators flying to these locations and beyond”.

Andy Head, Business Development Director of NATS said: “Aviation is growing rapidly throughout the world and this is placing greater and greater demand on limited airspace and airport resources. Working with the CAAi in this way allows us to offer a compelling proposition to aid aviation companies around the world achieve their objectives around capacity and safety, drawing on the experience of managing some of the world’s busiest airspace and airports in the UK and integrating with Europe”.

This partnership builds on an existing working relationship. In 2013, NATS and CAAi joined forces to work with Qatar on a major airspace redesign project. Most recently, both parties jointly supported the Airport Authority of Hong Kong with noise modelling to support environmental impact improvements.

NATS and CAAi will be able to offer overseas clients a combination of technical advisory services, ranging from airspace design, capacity planning and compliance frameworks to business planning, safety and security oversight and environmental reporting.