More than 10,000 lorries a day could be delayed by no-deal Brexit - FTA

The Freight Transport Association (UK) wants the government to prioritise aviation and road access negotiations with the European Union (EU) to ensure business doesn't stall on March 29, 2019, the official Brexit departure date.

James Hookham, the FTA's deputy chief executive said leaving the EU means an end to the automatic rights for trucks to drive and planes to fly between the UK and the EU and the UK also will lose automatic access to the flying rights contained in EU aviation agreements negotiated with other countries, including the US.
 
“This will be catastrophic for businesses trading with the EU, regardless of the Customs and Border issues ... Should the UK leave the EU without an agreed air deal, and with the country no longer part of the EU’s aviation partnership, planes from 44 countries around the world would not be legally permitted to arrive or depart from the UK," he said. 
 
"This could be disastrous for businesses of all sizes which rely on 'just-in-time' deliveries via the UK’s airports which connect them to the rest of the world."
 
Further, he added, leaving the EU without a road transportation deal would mean the UK would have up to 10,000 lorries a day at Port of Dover alone competing for the 'up to' 1,000 permits that British lorries would need to travel to and from the Continent. 
 
Without an agreement covering freight vehicles, "there is a very real prospect of severe road delays on both sides of the Channel, and, ultimately, a significant threat to the UK’s complex supply chain,” he said.

Source: Impactpub