UNIONS and business leaders have condemned a possible German takeover of the Hampshire-based firm that runs Britain’s air traffic control service.

Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS), Germany’s state-owned air traffic service, is planning a bid for a stake in National Air Traffic Control Systems (Nats), which is 49 per cent owned by the Government.

Chancellor George Osborne said last year that the Government was ready to sell its stake, which could be worth more than £500m.

Unions warned that it would be a “sell-off too far”.

Prospect, which has 2,700 members at Nats working as air traffic controllers and air traffic systems specialists, said it was “deeply concerned” that fullscale privatisation would lead to a drive for profits and dividends which would “undermine the delivery of this crucial service”.

National secretary Garry Graham told the Daily Echo: “The potential dangers of foreign ownership only reinforce Prospect’s view that the Government should retain its stake in Nats.”

Nats was part-privatised in 2001 when a group of seven airlines, including British Airways and Virgin, acquired a 46 per cent stake and staff took five per cent. It generated a £100m profit for the Exchequer last year, handling 2.1 million flights.

About 1,500 staff work at its Swanwick air traffic control centre, Europe’s largest, with another 1,500 at its Whiteley headquarters, which in September opened a state-of-the-art £10m training facility including a 3D control tower simulator.

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