Whitehall seeks lone C++ coder to keep airport passenger model flying
(2026/03/12)
- Reference: 1773307808
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/03/12/100k_tender_napam/
- Source link:
The UK's Department for Transport is offering up to £100,000 over three years for access to a C++ programmer who can keep a module of its airport usage model up in the air.
The module is part of the National Aviation Passenger Allocation Model, or NAPAM
The US government wants developers to stop using C and C++ [2]READ MORE
It consists of about 10,000 lines of code written in a Microsoft .NET C++ environment with Excel used for data input and output. It carries out iterative calculations until these hit a set value such as an airport's maximum number of passengers.
The department has [3]set a maximum budget of £100,000, excluding VAT over three years, starting from April 27, 2026.
The job also states: "This budget is non-committal – therefore the Authority cannot guarantee volume and spend."
[4]
The supplier will provide technical support and work alongside transport modelers, economists, and analysts to develop and maintain the model.
[5]How one developer used Claude to build a memory-safe extension of C
[6]Claude is his copilot: Rust veteran designs new Rue programming language with help from AI bot
[7]The most durable tech is boring, old, and everywhere
[8]Microsoft wants to replace its entire C and C++ codebase, perhaps by 2030
Given the money on offer, the C++ programmer concerned seems likely to spend a fraction of his or her time on the job.
NAPAM covers 29 UK airports with international flights and four overseas hubs – Amsterdam Schiphol, Dubai, Frankfurt, and Paris Charles de Gaulle – that are popular with Brits.
[9]
It uses data on where passengers live, road and rail transport times and costs, airport and aircraft capacities, and destinations, using passenger surveys carried out by the Civil Aviation Authority.
The model has been around since at least 2010 when it was peer reviewed for the department and revised several times since then, including in 2017, 2022, and 2024. In 2020, the department spent £96,763 with the UK unit of Jacobs, a Dallas-based consultancy, on an update. ®
Get our [10]Tech Resources
[1] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/668546fa541aeb9e928f43eb/dft-aviation-modelling-framework.pdf
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/08/the_us_government_wants_developers/
[3] https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/020966-2026
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2abKc0lYUe2F4lYSpfwFcEAAAAtY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/26/trapc_claude_c_memory_safe_robin_rowe/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/03/claude_copilot_rue_steve_klabnik/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/31/long_lived_tech/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/24/microsoft_rust_codebase_migration/
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44abKc0lYUe2F4lYSpfwFcEAAAAtY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The module is part of the National Aviation Passenger Allocation Model, or NAPAM
[1]PDF
, which forecasts passenger airport choices.The US government wants developers to stop using C and C++ [2]READ MORE
It consists of about 10,000 lines of code written in a Microsoft .NET C++ environment with Excel used for data input and output. It carries out iterative calculations until these hit a set value such as an airport's maximum number of passengers.
The department has [3]set a maximum budget of £100,000, excluding VAT over three years, starting from April 27, 2026.
The job also states: "This budget is non-committal – therefore the Authority cannot guarantee volume and spend."
[4]
The supplier will provide technical support and work alongside transport modelers, economists, and analysts to develop and maintain the model.
[5]How one developer used Claude to build a memory-safe extension of C
[6]Claude is his copilot: Rust veteran designs new Rue programming language with help from AI bot
[7]The most durable tech is boring, old, and everywhere
[8]Microsoft wants to replace its entire C and C++ codebase, perhaps by 2030
Given the money on offer, the C++ programmer concerned seems likely to spend a fraction of his or her time on the job.
NAPAM covers 29 UK airports with international flights and four overseas hubs – Amsterdam Schiphol, Dubai, Frankfurt, and Paris Charles de Gaulle – that are popular with Brits.
[9]
It uses data on where passengers live, road and rail transport times and costs, airport and aircraft capacities, and destinations, using passenger surveys carried out by the Civil Aviation Authority.
The model has been around since at least 2010 when it was peer reviewed for the department and revised several times since then, including in 2017, 2022, and 2024. In 2020, the department spent £96,763 with the UK unit of Jacobs, a Dallas-based consultancy, on an update. ®
Get our [10]Tech Resources
[1] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/668546fa541aeb9e928f43eb/dft-aviation-modelling-framework.pdf
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/08/the_us_government_wants_developers/
[3] https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/020966-2026
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2abKc0lYUe2F4lYSpfwFcEAAAAtY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/26/trapc_claude_c_memory_safe_robin_rowe/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/03/claude_copilot_rue_steve_klabnik/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/31/long_lived_tech/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/24/microsoft_rust_codebase_migration/
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44abKc0lYUe2F4lYSpfwFcEAAAAtY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
£100 over 3 years???
ComicalEngineer
Will the person selected by subject to IR35?
OhForF'
>It consists of about 10,000 lines of code written in a Microsoft .NET C++ environment <
Is that really C++ or C#?
b0llchit
Excel is involved. So it is most likely written in C♭ and will also regularly detune on its own and needs severe beatings to re-key at regular intervals.
s151669
Actually C# is enharmonically D♭.
Paul Herber
Dr Dobbs Journal did D♭ back in 19 flumpty-flump.
Doctor Syntax
"with Excel used for data input and output"
We're doomed, I tell you, doomed!
I'm glad I have no plans to fly anywhere.
So 30k a year
JimmyPage
before tax ?
Fuck off.
What a Mess
An_Old_Dog
Ehh ... just rewrite the whole thing in FORTRAN.
Re: What a Mess
that one in the corner
They need a more modern language; say, COBOL. It has objects now!
100K?
I'll give them a few days a month for that and feed the data into some AI...