The stunning multi-coloured light show created by air traffic control boss that represents 3,000 planes flying over southern England from five major airports 

  • Five different colours – green, red, yellow, purple and blue - are used to show the flights to and from each airport
  • 3,000 planes a day use six runways – two at Heathrow and one each at Gatwick, London City, Luton and Stansted 
  • The stunning video, made by Britain’s National Air Traffic Services, shows how complex the airspace truly is

By Ray Massey Transport Editor For The Daily Mail

Published: 09:16 EST, 7 July 2015 | Updated: 14:15 EST, 7 July 2015

It looks like the sort of colourful contemporary video art installation you might see at London’s Tate Modern gallery. 

But in fact this hypnotic film is a visual representation of just 24 hours in the life of five of Britain’s busiest airports – with each plane landing, taking off and flying across Southern England shown as a light trail over a night sky as if viewed from a satellite. 

Five different colours – green, red, yellow, purple and blue - are used to show the flights to and from each of the five airports, individually in turn. 

Green, red, yellow, purple and blue lights show the flights to and from each of the UK's five airports

Green, red, yellow, purple and blue lights show the flights to and from each of the UK's five airports

Then they are shown altogether in a melange of colour. 

Some 3,000 planes a day use just six runways – two at Heathrow and one each at Gatwick, London City, Luton and Stansted. 

But with the Government yet to decide whether to back a third runway at Heathrow – as recommended by Sir Howard Davies’s Airports Commission - the numbers are set to grow significantly.

The aviation light show was shown to delegates at the Runways UK conference in London today by Paul Haskins, general manager of Britain’s National Air Traffic Services (NATS) which is responsible for the nation’s air traffic control. 

NATS handles more than 2 million flights in UK airspace every year of which 1.2 million arrive at or depart from a London airport. 

And 99.8 per cent of these flights experience no air traffic delay, it insists.

The aviation light show was shown to delegates at the Runways UK conference in London today by Paul Haskins, general manager of Britain’s National Air Traffic Services

The aviation light show was shown to delegates at the Runways UK conference in London today by Paul Haskins, general manager of Britain’s National Air Traffic Services

NATS handles more than 2 million flights in UK airspace every year of which 1.2 million arrive at or depart from a London airport

NATS handles more than 2 million flights in UK airspace every year of which 1.2 million arrive at or depart from a London airport

A NATs spokesman told his aviation bosses: ‘This is a reminder of what we’re dealing with – this is 24 hours in the South East of England'

A NATs spokesman told his aviation bosses: ‘This is a reminder of what we’re dealing with – this is 24 hours in the South East of England'

A NATs spokesman said: ‘Essentially you’re seeing a single day of air traffic over the south east, highlighting the arrivals and departures from the five major London airports. 

You can clearly see how complex it is, with the interaction between the climbing departures and descending arrivals.’

Mr Haskins told his audience of aviation bosses: ‘This is a reminder of what we’re dealing with – this is 24 hours in the South East of England. I doubt you need reminding but I hope this brings to life how complex and busy the airspace in the South East is.’ 

He said: ’Airports are only as good as the airspace that supports them. To operate efficiently, the airspace that surround the airports needs to be able to support the traffic volumes operated by airports, otherwise bottlenecks will be created and ultimately limit the operational effectives as the system as a whole.’ 

'We occasionally see this in today’s operation. It results in both airborne holding of arriving traffic – what people may know as stacking - and delays at the airport to departing traffic.’

But solutions are being developed to end stacking and reduce congestion in the skies, he said.

One involves creating a ‘variable speed limit of the skies’ similar to the system used on major motorways such as the M25 to slow down road traffic flows and avoid logjams and gridlock. It means planes get a definite landing time and don’t have to wait for a slot.

 

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