This archive report was first published on 22 August 2019.
With the UK's departure from the EU looming, airlines operating within the UK or between the UK and another country are bracing for a potential disaster. The countdown clock on stopgap agreements is ticking, and the consequences of a no-deal Brexit could be catastrophic for the aviation industry.
EasyJet, a UK-based airline, has managed to navigate the complex rules by obtaining a secondary air operator's certificate in Austria, while Ryanair has secured a UK air operator's certificate, effectively becoming partly based in the UK. However, other airlines, such as those owned by the International Airlines Group (IAG), face a daunting task in meeting the 50% European investor-owned requirement.
According to aviation expert Charlton, the ownership issue will be complicated at best and will require close examination and renegotiation as the no-deal Brexit occurs. 'There are some serious questions in all this,' Charlton said. 'How f---ing stupid are these? That we continue to use a regulatory framework from 1944 and try to run the modern aviation industry in that framework. That's genuinely unconscionable. That's genuinely stupid.'
As the aviation industry struggles to come to terms with the implications of Brexit, one thing is clear: the rules and regulations governing air travel are in dire need of an overhaul. The current framework, which dates back to 1944, is woefully inadequate for the modern era of aviation.
