Contingency plans have been drawn up by the European Commission to ensure basic air and road connectivity if Brexit trade talks with the UK fail.
Only eight countries with low Covid rates are on the approved list for free travel and there are no plans to add the UK.
The contingency measures include a proposal for a regulation to ensure the provision of certain UK-UK air services for six months, “provided the UK ensures the same”.
A separate proposal aims to ensure that various aviation safety certificates can continue to be used to avoid the grounding of EU aircraft.
The Commission admitted that there is now “significant uncertainty” whether a deal will be in place on January 1 at the end of the 12-month Brexit transition period.
A set of targeted contingency measures ensuring “basic” reciprocal air and road connectivity between the EU and the UK has now been put forward.
The Commission said: “The aim of these contingency measures is to cater for the period during which there is no agreement in place. If no agreement enters into application, they will end after a fixed period.”
And Brussels warned: “Disruption will happen with or without an agreement between the EU and the UK on their future relationship.
“This is the natural consequence of the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the Union and to no longer participate in the EU Single Market and Customs Union. The Commission has always been very clear about this.”
EU president Ursual von der Leyen said: “Negotiations are still ongoing. However, given that the end of the transition is very near, there is no guarantee that if and when an agreement is found, it can enter into force on time.
“Our responsibility is to be prepared for all eventualities, including not having a deal in place with the UK on 1 January 2021. That is why we are coming forward with these measures today.”
Director general of ACI Europe, Olivier Jankovec, and Airport Operators Association chief executive Karen Dee responded in a joint statement.
They said: “The certainty provided by the European Commission’s proposals on aviation connectivity is welcome and we urge the UK Government to publish their contingency measures to provide the industry with confidence for a potential no-deal scenario.
“However, it is exceptionally concerning that UK citizens could be subject to a ban on non-essential travel to EU member states just as the UK’s test-and-release system comes into force. This would further damage a sector battling the devastating impacts of the pandemic and hold back the wider economic recovery.
“The UK Government, EU and EU member states must work together to ensure that safe travel can continue and that our vital aviation sector can start to recover from the brutal impacts of Covid-19.”