Draft Air Passenger Rights and Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018

Patricia Gibson Excerpts

Wednesday 9th January 2019 General Committees

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

I will be extremely brief, Mr Davies. These provisions are welcome because, as we all recognise, it is important to retain EU legislation on air passenger rights and to have continuity in terms of passenger rights that apply to air travel, and to know that consumers continue to be protected if there is no mutual recognition of insolvency protection regimes after exit day.

We all agree that this is very important. It is essential that we have clear assurances that in the event of a no-deal Brexit, all EU air safety standards will be unilaterally applied and that work will continue with the EU to ensure that adequate systems are in place, to fully protect passengers, and that current EU passengers’ rights and standards are locked into any future partnership. That will, at the very least, ease some concerns about deregulation in the event of hard Brexit.

I will end by saying to the Minister that each day, regrettably, the number of people requiring this protection reduces, as sterling hit a 20-month low last month and fewer and fewer of us can actually afford to travel, with the pound being worth less than it was before the confusion that we currently face.