In May, NATS handled 236,122 flights in UK airspace, an increase of 1.6 per cent compared to the same month last year.
There was growth in most areas of the operation, in particular in non-transatlantic international overflying traffic.
Traffic grew at nine of the 13 airports where NATS controls, compared with the same month last year, including the ’big five’ London Airports.
NATS handled almost a quarter of all the traffic in Europe in May.
Juliet Kennedy, NATS operations director, said: “May is always a busy month for us, especially the last week when the half term holidays, Monaco Grand Prix and Cannes Film Festival all contribute to increased traffic levels; and this year we also had two football finals adding extra commercial and private flights.
“Our busiest day of the year so far was May 24th, with 8,742 flights in UK controlled airspace; we also handled our one millionth flight on 28 May.
