A HAMPSHIRE-based air traffic control service is to offer its services to a country in the Middle East.

NATS, which provides air traffic management across the UK and has its headquarters at Whiteley, has been given approval to provide air traffic design, management, maintenance and other services in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

It received approval from the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority to operate as an Instrument Flight Procedure Design organisation.

This followed a successful assessment against the UAE civil aviation regulations and the International Civil Aviation Organisation standards and recommended practices.

To receive the approval, an organisation must provide evidence of having in place a quality management system, a safety management system, a procedure design manual, an acceptable organisational exposition and proof of the experience of its safety and quality managers.

“We are pleased to receive this certificate from the GCAA. It gives a clear indication to our stakeholders in the region of our experience and capability in delivering work to the highest international industry standards,” said John Swift, director Middle East, at NATS.

“With the continuous expansion in airlines and hub airports in the Middle East, there are associated capacity challenges that need to be addressed.”

This adds to NATS’ strategy to build on its client and projects portfolio in the Middle East.

NATS provides air traffic control from centres in Swanwick and Prestwick, Ayrshire, as well as at 15 UK airports, guiding around two million aircraft.

But it says increasingly its expertise is in demand from other countries, with NATS also working in the United States and the Far East.

In the Middle East, the organisation is currently working on projects in Qatar, Kuwait and Oman, and has previously worked in Bahrain and at Al Maktoum Airport.