While the global aerospace industry remains well on track for another record year of aircraft production, a no-deal Brexit next March would create inevitable disruption, UK aerospace trade organization ADS Group cautioned.

This year’s commercial aircraft deliveries reached 809 at the end of July, exceeding last year’s total by 37, according to data collected by ADS. Figures cover reported deliveries of commercial aircraft by Airbus, Boeing, and Bombardier.

July proved a record month, as the OEMs delivered nine more aircraft than the 107 they shipped during the same period in 2017. The industry’s order book backlog remained above 14,000 aircraft for the eighth month in a row.  The 116 Airbus, Boeing, and Bombardier aircraft delivered in July are worth up to £2 billion ($2.58 billion) to the UK’s aerospace industry. 

“Aerospace manufacturers in the UK and around the world are continuing to boost production and the latest delivery figures show we can be confident of another new record in 2018,” said ADS chief executive Paul Everitt. But, he warned, the UK’s greatest risk to its ability to compete in international markets resides in “the threat posed by the country leaving the European Union with no deal.”

The UK government last week published its first set of technical notices explaining how British businesses and citizens should prepare for a possible no-deal Brexit next March. The first 25 or so notices did not include aviation, but they covered areas like trade, state aid, and customs.

The papers help provide more clarity over the consequences of leaving the EU with no deal, “but demonstrate once again that it would be the worst possible outcome,” Everitt said. “Leaving without a deal would create substantial burdens on business, which would be forced to bear the costs of adapting to and overcoming the inevitable disruption.”

He called on negotiators to “act quickly to reach an agreement that protects jobs and prosperity in the UK and Europe.”