Samuel OskysFlights on the Day of Brexit
Although the day has been postponed numerous times there are still concerns about the immediate impact on air travel at midnight. As the right for the UK to fly to other countries is governed by EU law it is initially unclear whether global airlines will continue to fly to and from the UK.
To tackle this uncertainty the EU has approved a “contingency action plan” which will ensure that air travel between the UK and the world will remain connected in the short term.
This is in everybody’s interest because having flights grounded would have been catastrophic,
…said Chrystel Erotokritou, the legal adviser at the passenger-advocacy group AirHelp. In the short term, the flight will continue as normal with little interruption.
Long Term Effects
The above-mentioned contingency plan will only last 12 months, and after 9 the EU will not recognise types of aviation and pilots’ licenses. This would result in the need of a new deal to be implemented before this deadline.
“Seven months is all they’ve got to go and negotiate a new deal,” managing director of Aviation Advocacy Andrew Charlton added, “So the short term is fine, but the medium term is a bit of a mystery because they’ll need to renegotiate”.
The Impact of Brexit on Airfares
It is noted that it will not be an easy task to predict the complex factors that will contribute to the price of airfare after Brexit.
Airfares and costs have never had any relationship in aviation — it’s witchcraft both ways.
If demand is soft because of Brexit, though, the fares would go down. And airfares in Europe are under huge pressure in Europe at the moment to be increased for decarbonization reasons, so it will be very difficult to splice out the bit of the fare that’s moving around because of Brexit, Charlton said.
In fact in the lead up to Brexit a decrease in airfare has been seen. This is due to people’s hesitation to book flights between the UK and Europe which have resulted in fares dropping.
However, in the long term, it is said that although fares could increase, if the value of the pound drops as a result of Brexit it would still be too complex to predict the prices with any certainty.
Customs Procedures
Procedures would require UK citizens to go through passport control in EU countries resulting in longer queuing times. UK citizens will also be required to apply for a European Travel Information and Authorisation Permit (ETIAS) before travelling to the EU at the cost of 7 euros.
In conclusion it is clear to see that the exact details of what will happen to the aviation post Brexit are uncertain, however, temporary measures have been put in place to ensure that flights continue to run smoothly.
Image Source by SFGate
