Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many officials employed in his Department since June 2016 have substantial experience of bilateral aviation negotiations and agreements.

My Department has many years’ worth of experience and is well prepared for aviation negotiations and concluding agreements. Negotiating teams draw on wide policy and technical expertise, backed by legal advisors, as well as potential contributions from other relevant organisations such as the CAA, and often in close collaboration with industry experts from airlines and airports.