Members of the European Parliament have been in discussions over the way to a hard Brexit would be handled and scrapping the automatic cap on flights between the UK and EU, suggested by the European Commission.
An EP group has been reportedly trying to get relaxed rules on aviation ownership rules, which would affect airline groups, including IAG, the owner of British Airways.
The EU Parliament's Transport Committee urged the EU Commission to "grant a temporary exemption from the ownership requirement" until the end of March 2020 if airlines have the valid operating licenses and is less than half-owned by UK nationals.
#Brexit: European Commission implements “no-deal” Contingency Action Plan in specific sectors. Commission also proposing Regulation to continue the #PEACE programme in Northern Ireland until end of 2020 in event of a no deal scenario: https://t.co/snnUp0zE5S pic.twitter.com/55rkLdCLg5
— EU Commission in Ireland (@eurireland) December 19, 2018
In order to avoid no-deal implications, airlines should present "credible plans to change its ownership structure in a shortest possible time to comply with the ownership requirement."
The EP has yet to approve the amendments for rule relaxation, and companies like easyJet — with 49 per cent European ownership — still have time to decide on how they'd like to proceed in case of a no-deal Brexit.
The no-deal Contingency Action Plan, announced in December 2018, British airlines will lose the right to operate intra-EU flights.
