STAFF at Hampshire’s air traffic control centre will stage a demonstration in London tomorrow over fears that hundreds of jobs could be axed.

European Commission bosses want to slash fees charged to airlines by the National Air Traffic Control Service (NATS).

But unions fear this will lead to ten per cent job cuts at its centres such as Swanwick, the largest air traffic control centre in Europe.

Employing 1,500 people, it is the mission control for planes flying in the 200,000 square miles of controlled airspace above England and Wales.

During the rally outside the Department of Transport, more than 2,000 postcards completed by members of the two protesting unions at NATS – Prospect and Public and Commercial Services (PCS) – will be handed to aviation minister Simon Burns.

Prospect national secretary Emily Boase said: “The UK is one of the most efficient providers of air traffic control services, with the least delays in Europe.

“All this will be put at risk if the commission’s proposals are carried through.”

Under the Single European Skies proposals, the commission wants to halve air traffic management costs by 2020.

But NATS staff fear that the proposals from the commission will mean the service provided to airlines and passengers will suffer and put safety at risk through overstretched air traffic management resources.

They also fear it will endanger the UK’s ability to control its own airspace.