The UK Ordnance Survey's aerial data gathering team has relocated to RVL Group's facility at East Midlands airport, becoming the third of its customers to take space there. Previous flying seasons for OS have been flown from Blackpool.

Formally marking the occasion, OS ceo Dr Vanessa Lawrence CB visited RVL's hangar and met with OS staff and the local media. Journalists were offered the opportunity to fly in the OS-equipped aircraft and saw how sophisticated equipment is used to maintain the 'master map' of Great Britain. This typically undergoes around 5,000 changes every day and is the source data for the whole range of OS mapping products. Apart from the traditional paper maps, the data is used in the development of products for use in satnav systems, transport and logistics planning and hundreds of other systems.