Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Civil Aviation Authority on creating a process to downgrade the classifications of controlled airspace within the UK.

The Civil Aviation (Air Navigation) Directions 2017 provide the independent Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) with the responsibility for overseeing the design of UK airspace. This includes defining the policy on the classification of UK airspace and how this is implemented.

The Government continues to keep under review how airspace is managed and a key policy objective is to ensure that the UK has the minimum volume of controlled airspace consistent with safe and efficient air traffic operations. This issue is being considered as part of the Aviation Strategy green paper, which is currently out for consultation. As co-sponsors of the process, the Government and the CAA have also committed to working collaboratively with all affected stakeholder groups to support delivery in a manner which balances the objectives of each group.