Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street
Parliament has voted on 30th December 2020 to approve the Brexit deal and put it into UK law. Earlier that week the Council of the EU did so too, which means it’ll be provisionally applied from 1 January, until the full ratification has been completed on the EU side.
Aviation and aviation safety are included in the agreement, allowing a large part of the UK’s aviation network able to operate freely under 3rd and 4th freedom rights. Individual member states can negotiate bilateral agreements in addition, to enhance flexibility and rights for air carriers. UK airlines can wet lease without restriction, although EU airlines may only wet lease from UK airlines in specific circumstances. UK and EU airlines can utilise code-sharing arrangements, apart from standalone routes within the UK or EU, or standalone routes from UK to EU or a third country. In practice, there will be no, or very little, change for UK passengers or cargo going through EU airport security procedures, and vice versa. The UK and EU have agreed high-level arrangements to cooperate on air traffic management (ATM) issues to ensure flight efficiency and interoperability between UK and EU airspace, along with a high-level aviation safety agreement that will help facilitate the recognition of each other’s aviation safety certificates and licenses. Details on border processes are still being worked through. The full text of the treaty can be found here.
