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Original poster

Passports and flying via EU airspace after Brexit

20 replies

GertyTheGert · 12/01/2020 15:22

Hi ! Anyone "understand" this? In newspaper today it says after Brexit British airlines lose access to European airspace. How come? We had access to European airspace before we joined the bluddie EU! What does this mean ie where do we fly through and to, if say, we are flying to Spain?! Is this info true? Please help if you know/understand this as I hoped to go abroad Feb/March!! I dont want to contemplate we'd have to all go in future via Switzerland and down to the Med from there and then up via Monaco or whatever........!!!

OP posts:
Booboostwo · 12/01/2020 15:43

AS far as I understand it, firstly this is an issue in case of a no-deal. If there is a deal I would expect it to cover this along with a million other issues.

So in case of no deal airlines with EU-licenses would no longer be able to operate in the UK and UK airlines would lose the ability to operate within the EU.

I would imagine in the case of no-deal new licenses would be issued but it may well be a bureaucratic nightmare that leads to a lot of confusion and delays.

Pre-EU deals are irrelevant in this matter because they were superseded by EU deals. Is is these EU deals that would fall apart in case of no-deal Brexit. Tip of the iceberg though.

Choufleur · 12/01/2020 15:47

Licenses We have are part of being in the EU. If we’re not in it we don’t have a license. We need to renegotiate this as part of trade deals along with thousands of other things (all in under a year). Apparently a piece of piss to do that.

chomalungma · 12/01/2020 15:52

We do lost he ability to fly 'between European cities' after Brexit.

Airlines can fly from London to Madrid. But in theory, the same airline can't fly from Madrid to Paris directly.

I think Easyjet has found a way around this.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

Flying Holidays
PetPeter · 12/01/2020 15:53

Another example of Brexit making everyone’s life poorer or more complicated.
British airlines will not be licensed to fly from one European city to another. They (hopefully) will be permitted to fly between the UK and Europe, so you should still be able to fly to Spain.
Don’t forget your travel insurance though, as you will be losing the benefit of the EHIC. And probably you’ll have to pay mobile phone roaming charges.
Thanks Brexit voters

zoobincan · 12/01/2020 15:58

I think Easyjet has found a way around this..

Not specifically for brexit, but they have subsidiaries in Austria and Switzerland.

MrsTerryPratchett · 12/01/2020 16:24

We had access to European airspace before we joined the bluddie EU!

It's not the bluddie EU, it's the stupid fucking Brexit. We had a great system, that worked well, seamlessly really, and because it worked so well it became invisible to everyone. Now idiots have decided to scrap that system, without any notion of how to have a new system and are slagging off the old system because they were too ignorant to understand the implications.

Yes we had agreements before the EU. They don't exist any more. Because as a member of the EU we had new agreements. Now we're not going to be a member we need new agreements. I mean we don't have any agreements with the Ottoman Empire or Ghengis Khan either, because... history.

SerendipityJane · 12/01/2020 17:07

We had access to European airspace before we joined the bluddie EU

It's almost as if the world has moved on in the past 47 years, isn't it ?

This was one of the biggest load of bollocks (and there was plenty to chose from in the Leave campaign). That a simple (and I use that word very deliberately) vote could somehow make it go back to 1972 again.

Anyway, isn't there a Brexit forum to hide stuff like this away in ?

Incidentally, of all the issues surrounding leaving the EU, peoples holiday plans are pretty low down on the list.

KenDodd · 12/01/2020 17:13

Well Brexit will make lots of things more complicated and more expensive. Everyone knew this, it's what we wanted apparently as we 'knew what we voted for'.

CharlotteMD · 12/01/2020 18:20

Do you really think you won't be able to fly to Europen post Brexit. Is that the same one as there's gonna be no food on the shelves or supplies of water ?.

StarlightLady · 12/01/2020 19:50

The OP may need a visa to visit Spain as well.

Some Airlines could be hit harder than others. Ryanair are European owned (Ireland) and BA, in spite pf their name are owned by a Spanish parent company.

chomalungma · 12/01/2020 20:07

Anyway, isn't there a Brexit forum to hide stuff like this away in

I always wonder why people want stuff like this hidden away?

The OP may need a visa to visit Spain as well

We will probably need a visa for Europe - a Schengen visa. Just like other people visiting Europe get.

Casscass1986 · 12/01/2020 20:14

My husband works for air traffic control. At present there is a European wide negotiated "process" in place that allows airlines access to foreign airspace and allocated "routes".The truth is nobody actual knows what will happen after Brexit, but a possible scenario will be that the UK will have to negotiate a right to fly with each individual European country.

To add to the process, the UK currently controls airspace that does not actually belong to us and a process of dealing with this will also have to be negotiated.

However, after saying this, we are going to Italy in July and DH is not the least bit concerned that we won't be able to go!

MrsTerryPratchett · 12/01/2020 20:16

My husband works for air traffic control.

Could you ask him whether he knows the difference in volume of air traffic between 1972 and now? Because all this 'we managed before the EU' stuff rather supposes it's vaguely the same situation, which I'm assuming it's not.

chomalungma · 12/01/2020 20:22

However, after saying this, we are going to Italy in July and DH is not the least bit concerned that we won't be able to go

Nothing will change this year. It's next year when things get interesting....

smemorata · 12/01/2020 20:28

How come?
Isn't that obvious? We decided we didn't want to be part of any of the agreements we negotiated and used for the last 40 years. We decided we wanted to start all over again from scratch - only this time we thought we would do it on a tight schedule and with no back up plan. Starting to sound idiotic yet?

LilyPond2 · 12/01/2020 22:35

we are going to Italy in July and DH is not the least bit concerned that we won't be able to go!

My understanding is that the deal agreed with the EU for the transitional period means that virtually all EU rules still apply in respect of the UK until the end of this year. As a PP has said, the key issue is what arrangements are in place from 2021 onwards. What happens from 2021 onwards is yet to be agreed (or not!).

SwedishEdith · 12/01/2020 22:43

I suggest you read a better quality newspaper. Try the FT.

StarlightLady · 13/01/2020 05:29

Remember too that you are likely to need a minimum of 6 months before expiry on your passport, before visiting another EU member state.

SerendipityJane · 13/01/2020 10:49

Talking of flying, I see the BBC are reporting FlyBe could be in trouble.

I guess that's one way to stop people flying.

OddBoots · 13/01/2020 19:34

"Remember too that you are likely to need a minimum of 6 months before expiry on your passport, before visiting another EU member state."

Some people need more than that as if you renewed the passport early then the extra time added to the new passport doesn't count in the 6 months. You need to look at the issue date instea and make sure it is less than 9y6m (adult) or less than 4y6m (child) since the passport was issued when you return to the UK if there is no deal.

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