The UK's Department for Transport (DfT) has started recruiting for two key aviation roles, just nine months before the UK is due to exit the European Union.

As first reported by TTG, the DfT is advertising for a head of aviation EU exit negotiations to “lead on the overall negotiating position on aviation”, plus a head of airspace strategy.

However, the government department defended creating the two new posts less than a year before Brexit.

“The DfT has dedicated teams with years of experience and expertise already working on aviation EU exit and airspace policy,” said a spokesperson. “We want to supplement these teams with additional posts.”

The recruitment process comes days after the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and the UK’s ADS Group urged the European Commission’s chief negotiator for Brexit, Michel Barnier, to begin technical and contingency planning discussions between the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority ahead of the UK’s departure from the EU.

In a letter, GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce and ADS Group’s chief executive Paul Everitt expressed the gravity of the situation.

They said: “Without an agreed solution and continued connectivity both for airlines/operators and aerospace parts, then supply chain disruption across Europe will occur, parts will be unable to be delivered, pilots and maintenance technicians will be unable to work, aerospace companies in the UK will lose foreign validations for their business, and aircraft will be grounded globally.”

British ministers have insisted they want the UK to remain in EASA, but there has been no EU agreement as yet.