The British government said on Thursday that flights to and from the EU would not be impeded by Brexit even if there is a no-deal exit. It agreed to match a proposal by the European bloc to protect flying rights.
The UK’s Department for Transport said it had agreed to reciprocate EU plans allowing British carriers to fly to and from airports in the EU for a 12 months period after Brexit. The EU’s plan had assumed that London would offer the same rights to EU airlines.
British officials said it would give EU airlines the same level of access to the UK for one year.
The transport department said it would include “traffic rights, ownership and control, leasing of aircraft, cooperative marking arrangements and fair competition”, the Reuters news agency reported.
Bosses from major airlines said they had confidence there would be no disruption to flights around the time of Brexit on 29 March.
“Liberal, reciprocal market access,” was the best policy for EU countries and the UK, according to Chris Grayling, the UK’s transport minister.
