Air traffic control display screen at West Drayton, London, July 1992.

The display shows Southern England with traffic control zones, airfields and directional beacons clearly marked. In 1962 RAF West Drayton became the main air traffic control facility handling civil and military flights over southern England. This role was taken over by a new purpose-built air traffic control centre at Swanwick, Hampshire in 2002. It is estimated that in 2003, air traffic controllers will have to be responsible for the movements of two million flights per year in UK airspace.