The College of Air Traffic Control or CATC is the main British non-military training establishment for
air traffic control
Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...
(ATC). It also trains people from other countries.
History
The NATS College of Air Traffic Control was originally in
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
, started by the
Ministry of Aviation as the School of Air Traffic Control in 1949. The college was created by the National Air Traffic Control Service, which was a partly-military organisation. The college in the early 1970s was run by the Air Traffic Control Service.
The new college in Hampshire opened on Monday 26 September 2011.
Training
Once selected for the course, trainee air traffic controllers in the 1990s would take a 72-week-long course, followed by a year of on-site experience.
The training course is two months, from whence the path of training is either an Area Controller (nine months more training) or an Approach Controller (five months more training). There are 120 trainees per year.
Training Prospectus
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Since September 2015, all Norwegian air traffic controllers (for Avinor
Avinor AS is a state-owned limited company that operates most of the civil airports in Norway. The Norwegian state, via the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications, controls 100 percent of the share capital. Avinor was created on 1 ...
) train at the college.
Structure
It is situated in the main NATS building, north of junction 9 of the M27. It has six simulator rooms and a 3D aerodrome simulator.
See also
* Central Air Traffic Control School, Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...
( RAF)
* Centre d'études de la navigation aérienne, comparable organisation in France
References
External lists
NATS
{{Hampshire
1949 establishments in the United Kingdom
Air traffic control in the United Kingdom
Air traffic controller schools
Aviation schools in the United Kingdom
Buildings and structures in Hampshire
Education in Dorset
Education in Hampshire
Educational institutions established in 1949
Borough of Fareham
Government buildings completed in 2011