Brexit clouds airline ownership as Spanish-led fix rebuffed

Spain, Ireland and Hungary have tried and failed to loosen EU airline ownership rules in a draft aviation deal with the UK, two people with knowledge of the matter said, out of concern about Brexit’s impact on BA owner IAG, Ryanair and Wizz Air. France and Germany are said to have rejected a softening of longstanding rules that require EU airlines to be owned and controlled by EU nationals or else lose their licences. While the ownership issue poses no immediate threat to flights, it brings a longer-term challenge to some of Europe’s biggest aviation names, with or without a trade deal. British investors will be deemed non-EU after the Brexit transition ends on Dec. 31 - a headache for airline groups with EU-licensed carriers and large UK shareholder bases. “There’s been a last-ditch effort from a few member states to get something more liberal in the agreement on ownership and control,” said an aviation source briefed on the discussions. “There is not a hope in hell of it happening,” the source added. “The big pushback came from France and Germany.” London and Brussels have for months been negotiating a post-Brexit aviation accord to accompany a broader trade deal. The trade talks appeared to be on a knife-edge on Friday, with time running out for an agreement. But the rebuff to Spanish-led efforts means that even a deal breakthrough would leave ownership problems unsolved.<br/>