NEARLY 2,500 staff working for Hampshire's high-profile air traffic control centre at Swanwick have cause for celebration today - their company has just come out of the red.

NATS Holdings Limited, the group that runs the UK's air traffic control service, reported its first pre-tax profit since it was part-privatised three years ago.

For the 12 months to March 31, the group made a profit, before tax, of £1.8m. This compares with a loss of £29.1m last year and a loss of £79.9m in the year before.

During the year the group handled an all-time record number of flights, some 2.1m, up 3.4 per cent.

Operating profit increased to £112.4m from £58.9m in 2003 and group turnover increased to £599.2m.