Traffic is almost back to 2001 levels

The �120m centre was postponed following the downturn in air traffic after the 11 September attacks on the United States and the outbreak of the Sars virus.

Construction work at Prestwick in Ayrshire ground to a halt just one month after the terrorist attacks.

But airline industry analysts believe transatlantic travel, which is controlled from Prestwick, has almost returned to the levels seen before September 2001.

'Foundations laid'

The centre will replace the existing Prestwick facility which is responsible for looking after flights over Scotland and the eastern North Atlantic.

National Air Traffic Services (NATS) said the new centre will take six years to build and install the right technology.

It is expected to employ at least 600 people, three times the current number.

Nats spokesman Adrian Yalland said: "We were prevented from continuing with work on the centre two years ago because of September 11 and then the Sars virus.

"We had the foundations laid for the building but then we had to stop. But air traffic is picking up now and so is our income so we can get going again."

UK Transport Secretary Alistair Darling said the centre was "crucial"

The complex will allow NATS to consolidate its Manchester and Prestwick operations into a single site, which will be the sixth largest air traffic control centre in Europe.

Transport Secretary Alistair Darling visited the site and announced that the plans are back on the agenda.

He said: "It is a crucial part of our strategy to have two centres, one in Swanwick in Hampshire and one in Prestwick.

"The investment that we were able to announce today shows just how committed we are to making sure we have a traffic control system that can handle the increasing volumes of traffic now flying over Britain.

"This centre will control a lot of the traffic over the Atlantic, over the northern part of the UK and across the North Sea down to the Netherlands.