UK signs air service deal with Switzerland for post-Brexit flights

by
Swissinfo
My articles My booksMy videos
Follow on:TwitterFacebookGoogle +

A Swiss plane taking off from Zurich

British Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling is set to sign an agreement with Switzerland on Monday to ensure air services continue to operate between the two countries after Brexit.

Britain is due to leave the European Union on March 29, but uncertainty over how, or even if, Brexit will happen has increased the possibility of the country exiting without a deal on departure terms, a scenario that some companies said would usher in chaos.

“These agreements will ensure Britain continues to prosper as we leave the EU and I’m confident the UK will reach a mutually beneficial deal, while we continue to prepare for all eventualities,” Grayling said in a statement.

His department said the new bilateral deal guaranteed the terms of the current EU-Switzerland agreement on air servicesexternal link, safeguarding the route that carried 6.8 million passengers by air in 2017.

Visa waiver 

On Friday the European Union announced that, after Brexit, British travellers would have to pay €7 (CHF7.90) for a three-year pre-travel authorisation to visit the European Union – and Switzerland – provided London seals a divorce agreement with the bloc.

If Britain crashes out of the bloc with no agreement in place to mitigate ensuing disruptions, Britons could require full visas to travel to the EU in the future, a spokeswoman for the European Commission said.

Also on Friday the Swiss government approved the text of a trade agreementexternal link with Britain, aiming to maintain existing economic and trade relations with the country after Brexit – including in the event of a disorderly “no deal”.