Gloucestershire Airport is looking to the future with the announcement of a £500,000 investment in its facilities.

With the airport handling 68,000 movements last year, the investment is on an air traffic control (ATC) upgrade.

The visual control room (VCR), usually referred to as the 'Tower', will have a complete upgrade to the furniture used by air traffic controllers and air traffic control assistants. A modern and ergonomic desk suite that is fit for today is being installed, alongside future air traffic control management and changes.

The airport is a meteorological (met) reporting station. Not only are half-hourly met reports used to help aircraft at and near the airport to fly safely but the UK Met Office uses the reports to help compile other types of aviation related forecasts. In order to ensure the most accurate and beneficial met service, not only is the airport upgrading to the latest met equipment such as visiometer (visibility) and anemometer (wind speed and direction) but it's also installing a cloud base recorder never previously used at the airport.

In addition, the entire ATC building will benefit from a complete rewire that will ensure a safe and easy to maintain power supply vital for the continuous and safe operation of a busy air traffic services unit.

The communications system is also being upgraded with the 'voice switch' - the central unit that acts as interface between all those communicating with Gloucestershire Airport ATC - being upgraded to a modern and future proof system that is incredibly reliable and can be easily upgraded for future changes or growth.

Other developments at the airport, which contributes around £52 million a year to the local economy, include the provision of a brand new staff kitchen upstairs.

All works are due to be completed by the end of the summer. The bulk of work will take place at night in order to avoid disruption but, there may be some occasional, minimal disruption during the latter part of the project.

Airport director Jason Ivey said they currently have 14 ATC staff and at any one time there were usually three air traffic control personnel on duty.

Jason said: "We did 68,000 movements last year. At one point we were the fourth busiest airport in the UK. A lot of those were training flights but it's very complex for the air traffic controllers here. It's safety critical equipment that needs replacing."

Manager of air traffic services Chris Brian, who has recently joined the team at the airport, said. "I'm a newbie but it's very exciting and very challenging times ahead with lots of projects on the go which is really interesting.

"We're not a 24-hour operation - we operate from 8.30am till 7.30pm. We accommodate light aircraft, medium size business jets, and have lots of helicopter flights and helicopter training.

"In a couple of weeks' time it's the Cheltenham Festival and it will be 'helicopter city'. We'll be back and forth from the racecourse all day every day for four days. We also have lots of light aircraft and business jets in and out."

Last month, Punchline-Gloucester.com reported on how airport director Jason Ivey said he had put "an experienced leadership team of professionals in place to explore current and future opportunities to maximise the potential of the airport".

As well as Chris Brian, the team includes head of people Lisa Milden and head of business development and marketing Helen Webb.

In the autumn, Mr Ivey had already been joined by head of finance Angela Madigan and head of operations Brian Rawlings.

The managerial changes came after Cheltenham Borough and Gloucester City Councils, along with the airport, announced they were seeking new investors for the prime aviation hub.

Punchline-Gloucester.com says: "This is great news for the airport with the investment and the new management team. It's onwards and upwards!"