About Airspace Change

The CAA, as the UK’s independent aviation regulator, has primary responsibility for deciding whether to approve a proposed change to the notified airspace design over the UK and the UK’s managed airspace over the high seas. We make these decisions in accordance with the legal framework and government policy outlined above which requires consideration of certain factors including safety, the environment, the needs of airspace users and the Airspace Modernisation Strategy.

The sponsor is responsible for progressing the airspace change including developing, managing and resourcing the airspace change proposal. The proposer and sponsor could be the same entity, or they could differ. For example, an airport could be the proposer, and the UK Airspace Design Service (UKADS) provider could be the sponsor. 

The sponsor may work in association with other organisations, such as aviation consultancy firms or approved procedure design organisations, when developing their airspace change proposal. However, the sponsor remains solely responsible for complying with the airspace change process, and any UK and international airspace design policy requirements that they are required to take account of.

The UKADS provider is responsible for designing a block of UK airspace that covers the area of airspace managed by more than one airport (or air navigation service provider).

The UKADS provider can act as a proposer and/or a sponsor within the airspace change process. When acting as a sponsor, the UKADS provider is responsible for the development of the airspace change proposal in accordance with the airspace change process.

Additional information about the UKADS provider’s role can be found in its licence and the Secretary of State’s UKADS and UKACS licence obligations: strategic objectives. Guidance for UKADS can be found in CAP 3219, Guidance for the UK Airspace Design and Coordination Services.

A partner in the airspace change process is an organisation, usually an airport or air navigation service provider, who is required to collaborate with the UKADS provider where the UKADS provider will be the sponsor of an airspace change proposal.

The UKADS provider must establish a formal partnership arrangement with each partner involved in the specific airspace change proposal. The partnership arrangement will set out a clear division of responsibilities between the UKADS provider and the relevant partner.

The UK Airspace Coordination Service (UKACS) provider is responsible for facilitating coordination between the sponsors of strategically important interdependent airspace change proposals forming ‘clusters’ for areas where the UKADS is not being provided. The UKACS provider is also responsible for cumulative assessments and safety strategy outputs encompassing all the proposed airspace change proposals in that cluster.

Additional information about the UKACS provider’s role can be found in its licence. Additional requirements for UKACS are also set out in CAP 3220, Requirements for the UK Airspace Coordination Service and associated guidance with additional guidance in CAP 3219, Guidance for the UK Airspace Design and Coordination Services.

Stakeholders should be confident that their voice has a formal place in the airspace change process. Potentially impacted stakeholders are identified by the sponsor so they can be engaged or consulted with at relevant stages of the process. Stakeholders will have access to relevant documentation via the airspace change portal.

Although the Ministry of Defence is part of government it can also be a proposer and/or a sponsor of an airspace change. Sponsors should treat the Ministry of Defence as an interested stakeholder and include it in their stakeholder engagement for a relevant airspace change proposal.

Parliament and the Government are responsible for setting the CAA’s statutory objectives, outlining the CAA’s functions and responsibilities, and providing guidance to the CAA. The Secretary of State for Transport may, under certain conditions, decide to ‘call-in’ a particular airspace change proposal. In this instance, the Secretary of State becomes the decision maker, instead of the CAA.

Other government departments, such as the Home Office or the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, may also be interested stakeholders who need to be included in a sponsor’s stakeholder engagement.