Mr. Sean Kennedy:

Some of the questions overlapped, so with the permission of the Chair, I will put some of the answers together. Senator Paul Daly raised a very good point in respect of technical issues. While we are happy to provide whatever technical assistance we can, this is less a technical challenge than a challenge of will. The underlying agreement is pretty simple and the Senator has probably seen what the text looks like. There are 121 countries with an open skies agreement and they all use pretty much the same text. The Senator can find that and has probably read it. The question is whether there is a will within the EU to take on the task as part of a transitional agreement. That is the biggest problem we have seen.

A few Senators asked how other countries were reacting and whether commercial logic would prevail, with everyone recognising we cannot go to the brink when it comes to commercial air transport. What gives us pause on our side is that Airlines for America has met representatives of member states and of the EU itself.

As one would expect there is a range of emotions in statements we have had. People from certain countries have said quite clearly that there will be no transitional arrangement and that aviation will be lumped in with pharmaceuticals, agriculture and automobiles. That gives us pause for the reasons I said earlier. Those industries can still operate in the absence of a law - in the absence of an agreement. Airlines cannot operate in the absence of a law or agreement.

I believe Senator O'Reilly asked if a rational reaction would occur. We are very concerned that the raw emotions that underlie Brexit may lead to the exact opposite of that. We have had very positive meetings with Irish officials. The reaction has been very consistent with what we have heard from members of the committee today. The notion of the air bridge is vital as everybody has recognised. Leaders continue to ask very smart questions; they are keeping us on our toes. There is a strong willingness to work with all sides.

Senator Craughwell asked if airlines would relocate operations to Dublin or to other countries. The challenge with that is that Heathrow is one of the largest airports in the world by volume. Given the billions of US dollars we have invested, they could be transferred overnight - I do not even think it would be over time. On day one of Brexit, what will the operations be? I assure the committee that the operations cannot move over at the flick of a switch, which is a challenge.

Senator Paul Daly asked about the impact on flight paths and plans in airspace. We do not anticipate Brexit will have any impact on things like over-flights. Flights could still go over Ireland; it is service to the country that would be implicated.

Senator Grace O'Sullivan asked what the remaining back-up plans were. We are not at the point to make commercial plans. We are still selling tickets and still encouraging travellers to buy with confidence. We do not want to be put in a position where we can tell customers that they should, perhaps, postpone their trip to Dublin or any point in Europe. We do not have a lot of contingency plans right now because we are still in an advocacy position urging the EU and the UK to reach an agreement.

I believe those are all the major points that have been raised. The Chairman might let me know if I have missed any.