The UK’s National Air Traffic Services (Nats) and its German counterpart Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS) are reportedly vying to run air traffic services at Gatwick.
Gatwick’s shareholders have been running a secret process to appoint a partner to run the airport’s air traffic control tower until 2025, Sky News reported.
A decision is expected to made imminently, with an announcement about the winner possible as early as today.
The contest represents the biggest UK airport to consider moving oversight of its airspace to a foreign administrator to date.
Civil Aviation Authority approval would be required to approve such a change.
Gatwick handles 36 million passengers a year and has 55 air traffic movements every hour, making it the busiest single-runway airport in the world.
An aviation industry source told the news service that the tender process to run Gatwick’s air traffic services would prioritise capability ahead of costs.