LONDON, April 10 (Reuters) - Britain's air traffic

services provider NATS said Warren East would take over as

chairman from Sept. 1, naming the former boss of Rolls-Royce and

ARM to succeed Paul Golby who has been in the role for 10 years.

The appointment of corporate heavyweight East, with his

knowledge of aviation from engine maker Rolls and technology

from chip designer ARM, comes at a sensitive time for NATS after

an air traffic meltdown in Britain last August left thousands of

passengers stranded abroad for days.

East will oversee the modernisation of Britain's air

space over the coming years as NATS, which controls some of the

most crowded skies in the world, is in the process of upgrading

systems to make flying more efficient.

NATS Chief Executive Martin Rolfe said he was looking

forward to working with East.

"His knowledge and insight into the aviation sector, the

role of critical UK infrastructure and the experience he has of

technology-led transformation will be enormously valuable,"

Rolfe said.

NATS is a public-private partnership which is partially

owned by airlines including British Airways and easyJet, pension

funds and the government.