UK airlines urgently need transition deal, warns Philip Hammond

Philip Hammond has stressed the urgency of securing an implementation deal between Britain and the EU by the end of this month, warning that without it airlines will not know if they can safely schedule flights for spring 2019. The chancellor told a parliamentary committee that it was in the interests of both sides to agree to the terms of the transition period at the March EU council meeting. He acknowledged that the clock was ticking, but pointed to the need for business certainty and a range of other “immediate pressing issues”. “Airlines will need to know April 1 whether they can safely schedule flights in April 2019. There are lots of practical issues that are going to become very problematic across the continent of Europe unless we agree this implementation deal,” Hammond said. <br/>