UK air traffic rose by 2.5% in June compared to the same month last year, with NATS — the country’s primary air traffic services provider —handling 237,215 flights.
This averaged almost 8,000 flights per day, with busiest day so far this year being June 27, when NATS handled 8,219 flights.
“There is no longer a relevant comparison with the 2019 pre-COVID peak as the whole European aviation environment is different now," said Kathryn Leahy, NATS chief operations officer. "We are already exceeding 2019 traffic on some sectors and at certain times of the day and as we approach the summer peak, that will become even more intense.”
The market segment with most growth was non-transatlantic overflights, which increased by 9.2%, with particular growth in flights using UK airspace to fly between Norway and Spain and Norway and the Netherlands.
The busiest UK routes were with Spain, up 5% and Italy, up 6%.
According to Eurocontrol, NATS handled 23.9 per cent of Europe’s traffic in June and was accountable for just 1.2% of Europe’s delay.