An explanation of the UKADS
The UKADS is a single guiding mind responsible for future airspace design to deliver much-needed modernisation of UK airspace to the timescales required. Initially prioritising the London cluster of the airspace change masterplan, the UKADS will provide a more structured and holistic approach to airspace design. In its first phase, the UKADS is being provided by NATS (En Route) plc (NERL). The UKADS is a key element of the UK’s broader Airspace Modernisation Strategy.
Why the UKADS is needed
As the airspace change masterplan has progressed, it has become clear that the challenges of today’s airspace change model risk the delivery of much-needed modernisation:
- the complex nature of UK airspace, particularly in the London area
- neighbouring airports, each having their own requirements, proposing and funding individual airspace change proposals where the airspace designs are interdependent
- dispersed and scarce expertise in the industry sometimes leading to inconsistent standards and variable quality in airspace change proposal submissions
- increasing demand from new or developing types of airspace user (such as drones, aerial taxis, high-altitude platforms, space launch) to have routine access to an integrated airspace for all users, but no obvious sponsor to take forward or fund any changes to the airspace design needed to accommodate them.
Why NERL has been tasked with the UKADS
NERL is the only organisation in the UK with the required level of resources and design expertise to deliver the UKADS to the timescales that modernisation requires. Other options were considered but rejected, as explained in the Autumn 2024 consultation document and related consultation response document.
How this will be achieved
Through NERL’s air traffic services licence and two new Statutory Instruments (see useful links). The CAA conducted a series of consultations on proposals to modify NERL’s air traffic services licence to require it to provide the UKADS.
The first of these (published November 2024) contained illustrative proposals on the nature of the licence modifications, scale of costs and charging arrangements that could be used to support the implementation of a UKADS.
The second consultation (published June 2025) set out initial proposals for modifying NERL’s licence to support the implementation of the UKADS, including greater detail on the funding model. The DfT consulted on the proposed modifications to the terms of NERL’s air traffic services licence in September 2025 and published the decision notice in November 2025.
The final proposals for modifying NERL’s licence to support the implementation of the UKADS were published in December 2025.
The CAA’s Final Decision on modifications to the conditions of NERL’s licence was published in March 2026.
Responsibilities of the UKADS
The initial scope of the UKADS will be to modernise the complex airspace around London. Subject to the UKADS’s capability and capacity, the DfT and CAA may expand this scope in the future.
The UKADS, acting collaboratively, will take on all aspects of each of the current 'London cluster' airspace change proposals, except for the safety case, implementation of the change (or associated provisions of air traffic services) and potentially some elements of stakeholder consultation and engagement, with the UKADS having overall responsibility.
In a second phase, developed in parallel but necessarily on a longer timeframe, we could establish a UKADS responsible for progressing all airspace change proposals in the UK. This is expected to require primary legislation and would be conditional on a review of the success of the first phase and further consultation.
Residual coordination activities for strategically important interdependent airspace change proposals that are outside the scope of the UKADS will be continued by NERL providing a UK Airspace Coordination Service (UKACS), in place of the Airspace Change Organising Group previously provided by NERL.
Funding the UKADS
We are reforming the funding of airspace change proposals UK-wide by creating a new UK Airspace Design Charge, which will:
- meet the efficient costs of NERL to provide an airspace design service through the UKADS, and
- create a new UK Airspace Design Support Fund to cover relevant costs of the sponsors of eligible UK airport airspace change proposals that are outside the scope of UKADS.
The statutory processes for this included detailed consultation with those potentially affected by the new charge, including on the level of the charge. The Final Decision to modify NERL’s licence to make provision for the new charge and the new fund was published in March 2026.
Eligibility for Airspace Design Support Fund claims
The DfT have published the UK Airspace Design Support Fund rules and eligibility criteria which sets out:
- who can apply to the fund
- what costs the fund covers
- the application process
- how to assess applications and disburse the funding.
Airspace changes initiation and management
This project is about airspace design. We are not planning to fundamentally change who manages the airspace or initiates airspace changes – that will for the most part remain with airports and air navigation service providers, who know their local stakeholders’ interests best. The UKADS will however take on most aspects of the airspace change proposal, exceptions being the safety case, implementation, and potentially some elements of stakeholder consultation and engagement.
Changes to the regulatory framework for airspace change
Some changes to the regulatory framework, including the CAA’s CAP 1616 airspace change process, will be needed for the UKADS to function effectively, and there are potential opportunities to go further in streamlining airspace regulatory processes more generally.
In Autumn 2025, the CAA and DfT launched a package of consultations that will make the process for airspace design decisions more proportionate, while retaining the important principles of a transparent, evidence-based process that involves impacted stakeholders.
On 25 September 2025, the CAA launched its consultation on the airspace change process. We expect to announce the outcome in summer 2026.
On 17 November 2025, the CAA launched two consultations in support of streamlining airspace regulatory processes:
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CAP 3158 a consultation seeking views on draft CAA guidance with which NERL should comply when providing the UKADS and UKACS
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CAP 3159 a consultation seeking views on draft requirements and associated guidance for NERL in providing the UKACS (the new coordination service in place of ACOG which would be provided by NERL for certain airspace changes outside the scope of the UKADS)
The outcomes of the consultations were published 25 March 2026. See Autumn 2025 consultations.
On 25 November 2025, the DfT launched a consultation on proposed changes to the Air Navigation Directions and Air Navigation Guidance. We expect the outcome to be published in summer 2026.
The UKADS will still be required, as is the case now, to take airspace designs through the CAP 1616 process, including requirements to engage with local communities and factor in environmental considerations.
Prioritising airspace around London
The airspace around London is the most complex airspace in the UK. Consequently, its modernisation will unlock more benefits, such as more capacity, reduced noise per flight and decarbonisation. Despite a collective will to deliver, the current model for delivering modernisation of London airspace appears increasingly unworkable. Modernisation of London airspace is at a natural transition point where the UKADS can take on the airspace change proposals currently progressing through the CAA’s CAP 1616 airspace change process and add the most value through a single airspace design.
Process for onboarding airspace change proposals to the UKADS provider
- The onboarding process CAP 3129 - Onboarding Process for the UK Airspace Design Service (UKADS) Provider sets out how existing airspace change proposals within the London cluster of the airspace change masterplan will be transferred to a consolidated single airspace change proposal sponsored by NERL, the UKADS provider (the London TMA Region Single ACP).
- We have published UKADS London TMA Region Onboarding FAQs about the process.
Inter-relationship between the UKADS and the legal and policy framework
The CAA has produced a diagram setting out the proposed inter-relationships between NERL (as the UKADS and UKACS provider, and the Airspace Design Support Fund administrator as directed by the CAA) and the relevant current or potential legal and policy framework. Some documents have yet to be published and will be subject to consultation.
Key to the diagram
- Any box in green is a DfT document.
- Any box in blue is a CAA document.
- Any box in yellow is a co-sponsor (DfT and CAA) document or activity.
- Any box in pink is a NERL activity.
- A coloured glowing surround means that the document is awaiting consultation outcomes or subject to consultation.
Notes to the diagram
- A single asterisk indicates that a link to this consultation will be inserted once published.
- A double asterisk indicates that a link to the CAA’s application process for the Support Fund will be inserted, once published.
Description of the diagram
At its heart, the diagram has airspace design proposals.
The left section feeding into this shows three types of airspace change proposal:
- UKACS: Airspace change proposals coordinated by NERL (some funding may be available through the Airspace Design Support Fund, for which there are DfT funding eligibility criteria and rules and an application process that will be published April 2026);
- Other airspace change proposals (some funding may be available through the Airspace Design Support Fund).
- UKADS: More than one existing airspace change proposal collectively forming a single airspace change proposal (via the relevant CAA UKADS onboarding process, which for the London area is CAP 3129).
The right section shows NERL’s licence and various documents mentioned in the CAA’s condition modification Final Decision for the NERL air traffic services licence. These include:
- the DfT’s Strategic Objectives
- the CAA’s guidance for NERL’s provision of the UKADS and UKACS; and
- the CAA’s requirements and associated guidance for NERL’s provision of the UKACS.
These documents provide more detail on NERL’s obligations which are referred to in NERL’s Licence. Likewise, through the Licence, NERL will be responsible for a strategic delivery plan, the Advisory Board and a stakeholder engagement plan. To enable and fund NERL to produce an airspace change proposal as UKADS provider, NERL’s licence will be subject to separate DfT and CAA consultations on the licence terms and conditions respectively.
NERL’s provision of the UKADS will include regular reporting and information provision and will be subject to oversight by the DfT/CAA as co-sponsors through the existing governance mechanism in the Airspace Modernisation Strategy, CAP 1711. Like all airspace change proposals, the airspace change proposal developed by NERL, as the UKADS provider, must take account of the CAA’s Airspace Modernisation Strategy.
The top section outlines other aspects of the airspace legal and policy framework that affect all airspace change proposals: the Secretary of State’s Air Navigation Directions and Air Navigation Guidance to the CAA, revisions to which were consulted on in Autumn 2025 (outcome awaited), that together with section 70 of the Transport Act 2000 and other technical design policies govern the CAA’s CAP 1616 airspace change process and guidance that all change sponsors must follow.
The bottom section outlines the planning regime. Airspace change proposals must enable the capacity permitted, within the conditions set, by planning permissions granted to the airports concerned. These are:
- the proposed Heathrow Expansion Planning Application Development Consent Order (DCO); and
- other currently proposed or actual airport DCOs (e.g. Gatwick or Luton) all of which are subject to the Planning Act 2008
- other airport planning permissions including section 106 conditions which are subject to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
In terms of government policy, a planning application in relation to Heathrow is additionally subject to the DfT’s Airports National Policy Statement (which the Government confirmed in October 2025 that it will review) while the other airports are subject to the DfT’s “Making Best Use of Existing Runways”.
Explanatory note supplementing the diagram
Once NERL has the UKADS up and running, it will sponsor an airspace change proposal for the London TMA region airspace through the CAA’s airspace change process. There will no longer be the multiple airspace change proposals sponsored by individual airports that formed a ‘cluster’ of the airspace change masterplan.
Some further government documents need to be consulted on, finalised or published before an airspace change proposal will be developed and proposed by UKADS to the CAA for decision, as described in this document.
Potential third runway at Heathrow
Airspace modernisation is needed irrespective of a third runway at Heathrow. A third runway would require an airspace change proposal to be developed, consulted on and considered in line with the CAA’s airspace change process (CAP 1616). The UKADS could have a role in ensuring that this is delivered effectively and in a coordinated way with the rest of the London airspace.
Airspace modernisation in other parts of the UK
Coordination activities for strategically important interdependent airspace change proposals that are outside the scope of the UKADS will be continued by NERL providing a UK Airspace Coordination Service (UKACS) in place of the service currently provided by NERL through the Airspace Change Organising Group. You can read more about this here and the autumn 2025 consultations page.
The DfT and CAA may expand the scope of the UKADS in the future, as explained in the autumn 2024 consultation. In the meantime, we are reforming how airspace change is paid for. Instead of wholly funding an airspace change proposal themselves, some airport sponsors progressing airspace change proposals that are not in scope of the UKADS may be eligible to claim certain costs back from a new Airspace Design Support Fund.
Recovering UKADS costs
In line with the ‘user pays’ principle, airlines are key beneficiaries from airspace changes that the UKADS will progress and they will therefore largely bear the costs of the UKADS. In future, if and when the scope of the UKADS widens to include airspace change proposals relating to other parts of the aviation sector (such as General Aviation, drones, spaceflight or electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft), the funding model will be correspondingly adjusted in line with the ‘user pays’ principle.
Specialist airspace design consultancies
There is currently a shortage of skilled airspace designers. Therefore, no matter how the role of specialist consultancies changes once the UKADS is up and running, demand for specialist staff will continue. The UKADS could potentially contract existing aviation consultants for some work, while still acting as coordinator to ensure consistency and quality. Some consultancy work contracted by airports would diminish as the UKADS builds its activities, thus releasing expertise that the UKADS could potentially recruit.
If an airport (or another partner) does not accept the UKADS’s airspace design
The UKADS must 'hold the pen' on the proposed airspace design. Where an airspace change proposal is in scope of the UKADS, the CAA will not accept a proposal from another organisation, unless previously agreed.
An issue with a specific airspace change proposal should follow the approach set out in CAP 1616.
The Advisory Board acts as a forum to exchange views, ideas and information with, and obtain advice from, UKADS and UKACS stakeholders in order to assist NERL in contributing to the objectives of the Airspace Modernisation Strategy. However, the Advisory Board will have no decision-making role. It is not the appropriate forum to discuss the specifics (such as design choices or environmental impacts) of any airspace change proposal sponsored or coordinated by NERL as the UKADS or UKACS provider, as these fall under the CAP 1616 process. Similarly, the DfT/CAA would not be involved in the UKADS design choices, other than through the airspace change proposal regulatory role in the airspace change process.
Through the existing Airspace Modernisation Strategy governance structure, the DfT/CAA will have a regular, ongoing dialogue with NERL as provider of the UKADS. See CAP 3219.