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Watch the World's Busiest Airport System in Action

Sept. 29, 2018
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2 min read
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Watch the World's Busiest Airport System in Action
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More than 736,000 planes traversed UK airspace between the months of June and August this summer, according to NATS, which manages air traffic control for the United Kingdom. In 2018, the London metropolitan airport system handled 5,683 more flights than 2017's previous record, marking the region's sixth year of consecutive growth.

Alongside the data, NATS released a mesmerizing video depicting 24 hours of aircraft movements above London to illustrate how busy the airspace has become.

“It has been an incredibly busy summer and our teams have done a fantastic job safely managing what have been unprecedented levels of air traffic,” NATS operation director Juliet Kennedy told The Telegraph. “It’s been particularly pleasing to have done so without seeing the severity of capacity issues that have existed elsewhere in Europe.”

London is the world's busiest city airport system with six commercial airports within its metropolitan area: Heathrow (LHR), Gatwick (LGW), Stansted (STN), Luton (LTN), City (LCY) and Southend (SEN). Heathrow and Gatwick obviously are the best known of the six, respectively processing 78 million and 43 million passengers in 2017. NATS stated that London handled a quarter of all of Europe's air traffic this summer, which encompasses departing and arriving UK flights as well as aircraft simply passing through UK airspace en route to and from North America.

However, Ryanair and other budget carriers have significantly increased the number of routes that operate out of Stansted and Luton, greatly contributing to the congestion in the airspace and pushing London's skies to capacity. Luton and Stansted alone have increased air traffic by 30% during the last four years.

Delays will become increasingly common for UK travelers unless the British government significantly upgrades London's aviation infrastructure. As far back as 2016, NATS predicted that delays at London airports could rise from 90,000 cumulative minutes a year to four million cumulative delayed minutes by 2030.

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Earlier this September, Ryanair accused NATS of "clear discrimination" against the Stansted-based carrier, alleging preferential treatment for flights departing out of Heathrow and Gatwick. However, NATS disagreed, stating that “Ryanair performance this summer cannot be blamed on UK air traffic control.

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  • Some may have trouble using Uber and other dining credits
  • You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you’re approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount – all with no credit score impact. If you’re approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted.
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  • $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card to dine at U.S. Resy restaurants or make other eligible Resy purchases. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
  • $120 Dining Credit: Satisfy your cravings, sweet or savory, with the $120 Dining Credit. Earn up to $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys. Enrollment required.
  • Explore over 1,000 upscale hotels worldwide with The Hotel Collection and receive a $100 credit towards eligible charges* with every booking of two nights or more through AmexTravel.com. *Eligible charges vary by property.
  • No Foreign Transaction Fees.
  • Annual Fee is $325.
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