The Department for Transport and the UK Civil Aviation Authority launched an eight-week consultation on 22 October 2024 on plans to create a UK Airspace Design Service (UKADS). UKADS would be a single guiding mind to coordinate and sponsor future airspace changes to deliver the holistic, modernised airspace design envisaged by our Airspace Modernisation Strategy.
The consultation also proposed to reform the funding of airspace change proposals by creating a new UK Airspace Design Charge.
The consultation can be found on the UK Civil Aviation Authority's dedicated consultation webpage.
Update 17 March 2025
The Government has confirmed that it will deliver a step change in how airspace modernisation is taken forward by establishing a UK Airspace Design Service (UKADS) and Support Fund. The Government and the CAA are now working with NATS, with the shared ambition for the UKADS to be up and running this year.
Following the joint DfT and CAA consultation on the UKADS in autumn last year, we will publish a Consultation Response in due course providing greater detail on our plans for the UKADS and the rationale for the decisions taken.
By September 2025, the CAA and DfT will consult on a package of changes to the process for making airspace design decisions more proportionate, while retaining the important principles of a transparent, evidence-based airspace change process that will involve impacted stakeholders.