Arrivals airspace change proposal

London Luton Airport and NATS co-sponsored the AD6 Airspace Change Proposal (ACP). It was approved by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on 24th November 2021 and was implemented on 24th February 2022.

The objective of this project was to maintain a high standard of safety by reducing the complexity of LLA arrivals due to their interacting relationship with Stansted arrivals. In turn, this was predicted to reduce air traffic controller workload and ensure a safe and efficient operation for the future.

The CAA’s website has a page dedicated to the history, progress and documentation relating to this ACP and can be accessed via the Airspace Change Portal.

The airspace change proposal was developed in accordance with the CAA’s CAP1616 airspace change process. CAP1616 sets out several detailed steps that must be followed, with CAA approval required at the end of each stage to progress.

There is a 7-stage process for changing airspace; the final stage is a post-implementation review (PIR). This is for a 12-month period after implementation and ended in September 2023. During this period, LLA and NATS collected data on complaints, tracks, and altitude of aircraft on this route. This data was submitted to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), as the regulator of the airspace, and they have decided that the route will be made permanent with no changes required, since the change has met its intended objectives and therefore no further review of these flight paths is underway. Further information regarding the Post Implementation Review including the final CAA PIR Report on the airspace change portal here.

Any enquiries regarding AD6 should be directed to [email protected].