Maintaining confidence in travel during the Brexit process is vital to the industry’s long-term prospects, Abta’s public affairs lead has said.
Setting out the association’s key demands from any Brexit agreement at Abta’s recent Travel Law Seminar, Alan Wardle said the association would continue to advocate a “sensible, pragmatic deal”.
However, he added the current December 2020 transition period deadline was “unrealistic”.
Fellow speaker, K&L Gates travel law specialist Neil Baylis, echoed Wardle’s comments, stating a deal on aviation was of paramount importance.
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Maintaining confidence in travel during the Brexit process is vital to the industry’s long-term prospects, Abta’s public affairs lead has said.
Setting out the association’s key demands from any Brexit agreement at Abta’s recent Travel Law Seminar, Alan Wardle said the association would continue to advocate a “sensible, pragmatic deal”.
However, he added the current December 2020 transition period deadline was “unrealistic”.
Fellow speaker, K&L Gates travel law specialist Neil Baylis, echoed Wardle’s comments, stating a deal on aviation was of paramount importance.
“We are doing what’s never been done before,” said Wardle. “We are working out how to diverge [from the EU]. We are going into the unknown in a lot of ways.
“There is a lot to agree in 21 months. And these agreements tend to take five, seven, even 10 years. This is the biggest regulation change [travel has] ever gone through.
“On March 29, we leave. That will happen unless there’s a fundamental change in our negotiating position, or the UK asks for extra time. There’s been talk about the transitional period being extended.
“We could be sailing quite close to the wind in March next year.”
Wardle told delegates that while the EU Withdrawal Bill is legally binding, political agreement on the UK’s future direction is not.
Prime minister Theresa May recently pledged to publish a white paper offering “precise explanations” on some aspects of Britain’s post-Brexit vision.
Brexit secretary David Davis said the paper was likely to be published in June and would represent the government’s “most significant publication on the EU” since the referendum in June 2016.
Wardle added little was clear regarding travel matters: “This is all about real people’s lives and businesses,” he said.
“Some details, such as on Toms (Tour Operators’ Margin Scheme), we don’t expect to be agreed before we leave We have a broad sense of what [the deal] will look like, but things aren’t clear.
"On aviation, the degree of association between the UK and the EU is still unclear – and how closely we are going to remain aligned to the EU.”
Wardle said Abta had five key demands for a Brexit deal: on aviation, market and European Aviation Safety Agency access; free movement of key workers; free flow through borders; clarity on financial matters such as Toms; and movement on issues informing consumer confidence and guaranteeing consumer rights, such as the European Health Insurance Card.
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