We’re not sure if you’ve heard, but the UK voted to leave the EU a few years ago.
Whether or not you voted to leave, the question we’re getting most frequently in the TMC industry is how is it going to affect your ability to get your colleagues to their meetings.
If the UK leaves the EU in March 2019 with no deal, UK and EU licensed airlines lose the automatic right to operate air services between the UK and the EU without seeking advance permission – airlines operating between the UK and the EU would need to seek individual permissions to operate.
The government says it would envisage granting permission to EU airlines to continue to operate and that it would expect EU countries to reciprocate, but the EU hasn’t confirmed this. If permissions aren’t granted, there could be disruption to flights.
IATA
The International Air Transport Association has called for both parties to “move faster to bring certainty to three critical air transport issues”, including the uninterrupted continuation of air connectivity; the regulating of safety and security; and the policies and processes needed for efficient border management.
“These are the most critical areas because there are no fall-back agreements such as the WTO framework available in a ‘no-deal’ Brexit scenario,” says Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s CEO.
“Without any contingency planning being made transparent to the industry, the risks of not addressing these issues could mean chaos for travellers as well as significant disruption to industrial supply chains.
“With less than six months to go, we have little more certainty than we did in June 2016.”
What to do?
Right now there is not a lot you can do, until more information comes through we just don’t know. You may, however, want to be wary when booking travel (if you do) after the 29th March 2019. There is a chance around those dates that things could get a bit hectic.
For more assistance on booking your flights with confidence, contact us now at [email protected]