Updated at 2 p.m. on March 13, 2019
The British Parliament has voted
to reject a no-deal Brexit under any circumstances. However, the vote is not
binding, according to the BBC, and the U.K. still could leave the European
Union on March 29 without a deal in place.
Posted at 6:50 a.m. on March 8, 2019
The British government declared on Thursday that in the
event of a no-deal Brexit on March 29, it will reciprocate the European Union's
provisional agreement to let air travel rights between the U.K. and the EU continue.
The announcement eases concerns for those who travel between the U.K. and EU member
states each year. The U.K. Department for Transport pegs that number at 164
million passengers.
On Feb. 19, the Council of the European Union and the
European Parliament provisionally approved a basic air connectivity regulation to
continue air travel between the U.K. and the remaining EU member states through
March 29, 2020, assuming the U.K. and EU don't nail down terms for the U.K.'s
withdrawal from the EU, scheduled for March 29 of this year. The regulation is
expected to be confirmed by both bodies, according to the U.K. government, but
it also was contingent on the U.K. reciprocating air travel rights to EU
carriers. The regulation is now on firmer footing because of the U.K.'s
announcement on Thursday.
Passenger Flights
The U.K. will allow EU airlines to fly passengers between
the U.K. and any EU member state, with stops allowed for nontraffic purposes like
refueling. Under the EU's regulation, U.K. airlines would have the same right, to
fly passengers between the U.K. and any EU member state. The U.K. also will allow
an EU carrier to fly to the U.K. even on a flight that did not originate in that
carrier's home EU member state. The U.K. will require EU airlines to file their
operational plans, programs and schedules to the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority
for approval alongside their applications for foreign carrier permits.
Ownership &
Control
The EU has granted carriers with operating licenses from EU
states six months after the agreement takes effect to be EU-majority owned and
controlled in order fly in the EU. This could upset
the balance for airline groups that own carriers in multiple
countries, such as International Airlines Group, which owns British Airways, Ireland's
Aer Lingus and Spain's Iberia and Vueling. The U.K., meanwhile, called
restrictions on ownership and capital in aviation "outdated" and said
it "intends to take a more liberal approach" for carriers to operate
in the U.K.: EU carriers must be majority owned and effectively controlled by
EU nationals, other European Economic Area nationals and/or U.K. nationals.
Leasing
The EU regulation would allow U.K. carriers to operate using
their own aircraft, aircraft leased without crew, or aircraft using the crew of
another U.K. operator on wet-leases, which are arrangements by which a carrier
leases an entire aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance. The regulation would
allow a U.K. carrier to lease from a non-U.K. carrier only after the U.K.
carrier provides adequate justification of exceptional needs, seasonal capacity
needs or operational difficulties. The U.K. will allow any EU carrier to lease
aircraft from another EU country, subject to approval from the CAA. If an EU
carrier leases aircraft from non-EU countries and seeks to fly to the U.K., the
CAA will require justification of exceptional needs, seasonal capacity needs or
operational difficulties.
Codesharing
Under the EU regulation, U.K. airlines would be allowed to
codeshare with EU airlines on service to and from the EU, but the regulation
does not say whether U.K. airlines can codeshare on service wholly within the
EU. The U.K. intends to allow both U.K. and EU airlines to act as either the
marketing or operating airline for any service between the EU and U.K. It will
permit codesharing to continue between EU and U.K. carriers already doing so,
but any additional requests for codesharing, such as for domestic U.K. service,
will be subject to approval, presumably by the CAA. Any codesharing
arrangements that fall outside the EU draft regulation would continue
unaffected subject to the "usual expectations of reciprocity."
Competition
The EU's regulation would empower the EU
Commission to monitor competition between U.K. and EU carriers until the end of
March 2020. The EU Commission will be able to establish limits on capacity for U.K.
airlines or require EU countries to refuse, suspend or revoke permission for
U.K. airlines to operate if conditions are unfair—if, for example, the U.K.
subsidized its airlines, failed to apply competition law or to maintain an independent
competition authority, or did not meet EU standards on safety, security,
workers' rights, passenger rights or the environment. The CAA and Department
for Transport will jointly monitor the treatment of U.K. airlines in the EU for
fair competition.