Abta has urged its members to plough ahead with Brexit contingency plans after two ministers resigned from Theresa May’s cabinet over the issue yesterday with speculation that others will follow.
The prime minister had championed a ‘Brexit breakthrough’ earlier this week as she agreed a draft text of the Brexit agreement with the European Union.
But Brexit secretary Dominic Raab and work and pensions secretary Esther McVey both resigned because of disagreements with the draft text.
Writing in a blog, Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer said: “Given the ongoing uncertainty it is advisable that members continue with contingency planning in order to make sure you are prepared, whatever the scenario.”
He added: “There is still a way to go before the industry has the much-needed certainty about what will happen after 29 March next year [the UK’s departure date from the EU].”
Tanzer said it was “difficult” to judge how votes over the agreement in parliament would go.
He urged Abta members to remind customers of important information that is still up in the air over the next four months, such as taking pets on holiday, and said the association would be issuing guidance which “will focus on reasonable actions travellers can take in order to avoid any unnecessary disruption” in the next couple of weeks.
Earlier this week, the UK government accepted EU proposals for mutual visa-free travel in the UK and EU for respective citizens after Brexit. Abta, which said visas were a “lobbying priority”, welcomed the news.