UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is flying to Brussels for dinner with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as this edition of Airborne goes to digital press, in a last ditch attempt to keep the trade deal talks alive even as we hurtle toward the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December.

And while a whole host of operators, industry lobby groups and service providers have been urging the bizav sector to make preparations for a ‘no-deal’ scenario – an outcome that Luxaviation UK CEO George Galanopoulos described as “catastrophic for the UK’s aviation industry” – the consensus is that there has been very little real guidance.  

The Air Charter Association (ACA) has urged its AOC members to take steps including securing all EASA third-country operator approvals necessary to ensure that they can continue to offer charters to EU member states after 31 December. Similarly, tax specialists have urged owners and operators to ensure that they are familiar with all importation, customs duties and VAT obligations for what will be two customs territories from 1 January 2021.