South Wales Aviation Group: St Athan

NPAS St Athan

NPAS was established in October 2012 following a national review by the Home Office. It is delivered by West Yorkshire Police as the lead force - an arrangement unique in UK policing. All 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, along with British Transport Police, contribute funding to support the service.

They operate a fleet of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft from a network of bases across the country. All flights are coordinated through the NPAS Operations Centre, based in West Yorkshire, which manages requests from police forces and partner agencies 24/7. Helicopter maintenance is carried out at Oxford.

St Athan's unit is based in buildings on the Southside of the airfield. Helicopters from adjacent NPAS units regularly visit or stand-in. NPAS St Athan uses the ATC callsign "Police 32".

The following aircraft were used during 2026.

G-NWOI	Eurocopter EC.135P2+	0887	National Police Air Service	Current

Assigned helicopter.

Picture credit Ferodo Bridge

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Editorial Information: In the "Editors on Line" section on the sidebar you will see a list of the SWAG editors currently online, the star * next to one of their names denotes the editor who has primacy at the time and any emails/information should be directed to that person. The editors are: Stu, Phantom2, AndyD , and MikeyF (future events) ..contributing photographers are: StuC, IanG, RichT, Mark Pearce, Matthew Blunt, Hugh Trainer, Ginge Little, Angelo Harmsoworth, Keith Morgan and Phil Watkins

Please continue to send in your pics for use as the header. I would like them cropped to as near to 1600X500 as possible as this makes it easier for me to edit and fit on the site. I will try and change the picture every Sunday ..Regards IanG

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MOD St Athan Information - EGSY 07/25

To spot here you're best off taking the B4265 St Athan to Llantwit Major road. From here you will see a railway bridge that leads to a paved track that runs along the fence and runway. This track leads to an unmanned entrance gate and is under CCTV surveillance. If you use this track, please park at the far end, not on the verges, as it is used by wide farm vehicles and delivery lorries. All a/c in outside storage can be seen from the bridge itself. The track can also be accessed via St Athan village via Llantwit Road opposite the Church. To view the Caerdav hangar (Twin Peaks) and scrapping area continue westbound along the B4265, past the West Gate entrance and turn right at the traffic lights. Follow this road to the T-junction and turn right onto the new road. The entrance road to the South Wales Aviation Museum is left at the next traffic lights, views can also be had from here as it's the only convenient stopping place. Be aware there are regular Security and Police patrols around the airfield and you may be stopped and questioned.

Frequencies in use are:

122.865/419.1125 Tower/Ground

241.125 Tower (as directed)

130.560 ATIS

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OTT Information

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Here we will list some frequencies and other information to help those who like to spot aircraft on the upper airways & tacan routes over Southwest Britain

Swanwick Mil

128.700 Southwest sector
133.300 Southwest sector
133.900 Daventry sector (Includes TR1 VLN-BZN)
135.150 Southwest sector (Includes TR1 LND-VLN)
252.875 Daventry sector (Includes TR1 VLN-BZN)
278.600 Southwest sector (includes TR1 LND-VLN)
280.350 Mid Wales sector

London Control

126.075 Berry Head sector (South of Cardiff -FL305)
127.700 Spare frequency (for unservicabilities and emergencies)
128.815 Berry Head sector (South of Cardiff FL305+)
129.375 Strumble sector (West of Cardiff -FL305)
132.950 Lands End sector (Southwest of Cardiff all levels)
133.600 Brecon sector (North -FL335, East FL265-FL335)
134.460 London Upper sector (FL305+ from Compton East)
134.750 Sector 23 (for Cardiff BCN-ALVIN deps -FL265)
135.255 Strumble/Brecon (West, East and North, FL335+)

North Atlantic Oceanic Clearances

123.950 (aircraft registered West of 30 degrees West)
127.650 (Aircraft registered East of 30 degrees West)

Western Radar

132.3 (for aircraft wishing to join or leave Controlled Airspace)

London Information

124.75 (for low level traffic not receiving a LARS service)

For more information on the area covered click on the "airways map" tab at the top of the site.

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MOD St Athan Information - EGSY 07/25

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