Contingency proposals put forward by the European Commission would only guarantee the temporary continuation of “basic” point-to-point air transport services between the UK and the European Union (EU), in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
The Commission on Dec. 19 proposed a series of contingency measures covering areas where a no-deal Brexit “would create major disruption for citizens and businesses” when the UK leaves the EU on March 29. Air transport is one of those areas.
Its plans for the sector include introducing legislation that would ensure “the provision of certain air services between the UK and the EU” for a period of 12 months, a nine-month extension of “certain aviation safety licenses,” and the ability for UK operators to carry goods into the EU for a period of nine months.
The measures are designed to “avoid full interruption of air traffic between the EU and the UK in the event of no deal,” the Commission said in a statement detailing its no-deal Contingency Action Plan.
“These measures will only ensure basic connectivity and in no means replicate the significant advantages of membership of the Single European Sky. This is subject to the UK conferring equivalent rights to EU air carriers, as well as the UK ensuring conditions of fair competition.”
The proposals would allow “air carriers from the United Kingdom to fly across the territory of the [European] Union without landing, make stops in the territory of the Union for non-traffic purposes, and perform scheduled and non-scheduled international passenger and cargo air transport services,” the Commission said. This will only happen if the UK guarantees the same rights for EU carriers.
The UK Department for Transport reiterated Dec. 19 that the UK government said in September it “would permit EU airlines to fly to the UK and would expect this to be reciprocated.”
While point-to-point connections between the UK and the EU will be temporarily permitted, the Commission said it would not guarantee “the continuation of all existing air transport services under the same terms as they are supplied today.”
Further details are unclear at this point. A spokesperson for International Airlines Group (IAG) said: “You need to speak to the EU for clarification.” Meanwhile, a European Commission transport spokesperson told ATW that “it will definitely not be business-as-usual.”
IATA welcomed the contingency plans but said there were still questions that needed to be answered.
“We welcome that the European Commission have issued further guidance on their plans for air transport in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The proposals offer the possibility of averting the danger of the March cliff-edge hard Brexit, but there are still some unanswered questions which the industry will need to be clarified,” IATA said.
“It is also clear this new guidance is still not a long-term solution for EU-UK air transport post-Brexit. We urge continuing dialogue between governments and hope for more details as soon as possible”…
