UK: No-deal Brexit risks travel chaos, nightmare at airports - IATA

A no-deal Brexit could wreak chaos for travellers and a nightmare at airports, global airline industry body IATA warned, calling on British and EU aviation authorities to put in place a plan to avoid such a worst-case scenario. Britain is set to leave the EU on March 29, 2019 but with just over five months to go, Prime Minister Theresa May has yet to reach a withdrawal deal and both sides have stepped up preparations for the possibility there will not be one. The IATA said Wednesday that planning for a no-deal Brexit needed to move much faster to ensure planes can keep flying and safety and regulatory frameworks keep functioning whatever the new relationship between the pair after March 29. “We predict chaos if nothing is done,” IATA DG Alexandre de Juniac said Wednesday. “On April 1 it will be us, the airlines, who have to manage millions of passengers potentially grounded in airports unable to take a flight ... It will be a nightmare in European airports and UK airports,” he warned. Separately, IATA released forecasts on Wednesday showing that airline passenger numbers could double to 8.2b in 2037, bolstered by strong demand in Asia, though protectionism risks curtailing growth.<br/>