UK: Planes to be grounded if UK crashes out of EU without one-off air deal, Theresa May told

Planes will be grounded if Britain crashes out of the EU unless a specific aviation deal can be struck with Brussels, Theresa May is warned today. Falling back on World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules would not grant the UK air traffic control rights if it leaves the EU without an overall agreement, a report by a thinktank concludes. Leaving the EU’s Single Aviation Market (Sam) in March without a replacement arrangement would strip most UK-based airlines of their operating licences for the 27 countries, said the Institute for Economic Affairs. Sam currently covers the UK’s rights to the so-called “freedoms of the air”, which include overflights of countries without landing and operating internal flights in foreign countries. The UK would also lose air traffic rights involving countries including the United States, Canada and Switzerland because they had been made through the EU. “If there are no alternative arrangements in place, it would be as bad as the worst fears suggest: planes would not be allowed to fly,” said Julian Jessop, the IEA’s chief economist. However, the report said the government would have options. Story has more. <br/>