UK airlines warned to brace for hard landing after Brexit

Lufthansa CEO expects Britain to lose its membership in Single European Sky treaty

Deutsche Lufthansa AG CEO Carsten Spohr expects France and Germany to take a hard line against the UK aviation industry in Brexit negotiations, threatening to disrupt flight connections across Europe.

“Brexit means Brexit — our industry won’t be exempt,” said Spohr, who has accompanied Chancellor Angela Merkel on state visits and discussed the matter with German, French and EU officials. “The basic approach is for every industry to say ‘hey, let’s pretend that nothing has happened’. That’s something the governments, and also the EU Commission, won’t go along with. You can be sure about that from what I hear.”

New operating licence

Flights between EU nations are regulated by the Single European Sky treaty and the UK will likely need a new agreement once it leaves the bloc. In addition, British carriers that fly from one European state to another will probably require an operating licence based somewhere on the continent. The UK is set to leave the common market two years after the divorce process is officially triggered today.

It’ll be “virtually impossible” for governments to reach a comprehensive agreement in the time available for talks, said Spohr, the CEO of Germany’s largest airline. That means there’ll be a transition period with likely disruptions as the sector adjusts to new rules, he said.

Spohr is expecting Merkel and French President Francois Hollande to oppose special treatment for the industry. UK airlines including EasyJet Plc and British Airways owner IAG SA have warned that a hard Brexit scenario would hit their business. While IAG already has several European operating certificates via its continental arms, EasyJet is still in the process of establishing an air operating certificate in an EU state.