The tech that has to work before Heathrow gets a third runway
Key Points
- The UK government opened a consultation on 18 June 2026 on the framework for a Heathrow third runway, with a final planning decision due in 2029.
- The runway's flight paths depend on the Airspace Modernisation Strategy, which is redesigning UK routes still based on 1950s ground-beacon infrastructure.
- A NATS licence change on 6 May 2026 created the UK Airspace Design Service (UKADS) to coordinate complex redesigns, focused on London's airspace.
- Aviation Minister Keir Mather said airspace must be optimised for a third runway by 2035, linking the runway and airspace timelines.
- Modernisation uses satellite-based precision routing to cut stacking, fuel burn and noise, and is positioned as part of aviation's net zero 2050 goal.
The UK government has launched a new consultation on the framework for a third runway at Heathrow. But the expanded airport’s flight paths will depend on a separate programme to redesign the country’s ageing airspace.
The consultation, opened on Thursday (18 June), sets out the tests a third runway must meet on noise, air quality, climate and economic growth, ahead of a final planning decision in 2029.
The flight paths needed to operate the runway are governed by a different process: the Airspace Modernisation Strategy, government policy since 2018 and co-sponsored by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Department for Transport (DfT).
Airspace built for the 1950s
The strategy exists because UK flight routes run on decades-old infrastructure. Much of the country’s airspace was designed in the 1950s, when aircraft were slower and relied on ground-based beacons, and its structure has changed little since.
Traffic has grown far beyond what that design was built for. UK airspace covers 11% of Europe’s skies but handles a quarter of its traffic, with more than 2.4 million flights a year forecast to reach 3 million within the next decade.
Modernisation replaces fixed, beacon-based routes with satellite navigation, allowing more direct flight paths and more efficient climbs and descents.
One aim is to reduce stacking, where aircraft join a circular holding queue to wait for a landing slot, which the CAA says would cut both carbon emissions and noise. The CAA classes the work as a contributor to aviation’s net zero by 2050 target.
A new body to run it
From 6 May, a change to NATS’ licence took effect, creating the UK Airspace Design Service (UKADS) to coordinate airspace redesign.
UKADS focuses on the London Terminal Control Area, one of the most complex areas of controlled airspace, and is intended to unlock changes around major runway projects that have been difficult to progress.
A separate Airspace Design Support Fund, worth up to £1 million per eligible applicant, backs airspace change proposals outside the central UKADS work.
Aviation Minister Keir Mather said modernising UK airspace is essential to support growing demand, including ensuring flight paths in and out of Heathrow are optimised for a third runway by 2035.
Each change must still pass the CAA’s CAP1616 process, a seven-stage framework requiring assessment, consultation and justification before approval. The same redesign is also being used to integrate newer airspace users, including drones and air taxis.
NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe called the licence change an important milestone for airspace modernisation, adding that detail still has to be worked through with the DfT and the CAA.
The Heathrow consultation runs until 1 September.
