U.K. Aviation Lobby Renews EU Plea to Prevent Post-Brexit Havoc
U.K. Aviation Lobby Renews EU Plea to Prevent Post-Brexit Havoc
(Bloomberg) -- A U.K. lobby group petitioned the European Union for a second time to allow aviation regulators from the two regions to jointly plan for Brexit, as fears grow of flight chaos when Britain leaves the bloc.
ADS Group, a U.K. trade body representing the aerospace, defense, security and space industries, wrote to the European Commission on Friday warning that time for talks “is running short.” Brussels turned down a previous request in June for the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority and the European Aviation Safety Agency to jointly prepare for Brexit. The lobby group said U.K. government requests for the regulators to meet had also been rejected.
“Major European companies are highly concerned at the potential impact of no talks, and contingency planning needs to take place for the continuity of safety, service, and supply chains,” ADS Chief Executive Officer Paul Everitt said in his Sept. 7 letter.
The commission told ADS in July that no talks could take place between the aviation regulators until a framework for U.K.-EU relations had been agreed on. A spokesman declined to comment further.
The U.K. aviation authority told lawmakers last week it was stepping up plans to ensure airlines and aerospace companies can carry on functioning in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The agency has spoken with the government about recruiting staff with the expertise to take over the certification of parts and planes should the split cause Britain to leave the European safety regulator, which is currently responsible for such approvals.
Separately, the British Airline Pilots Association is scheduled to hold a face-to-face meeting with the commission later this month to discuss license recognition post-Brexit.
--With assistance from Ian Wishart and Benjamin Katz.
To contact the reporter on this story: Suzi Ring in London at sring5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, Tara Patel
©2018 Bloomberg L.P.