A body representing 50 airlines has written to the European Commission warning that it must take urgent action to prevent the grounding of flights after the U.K. leaves the European Union.

"We get the sense from the politicians and officials that on the morning of March 30, the aviation industry will wake up and go to work as usual, even if there is a hard Brexit," Andrew Kelly, president of the European Regions Airlines Association (ERA), said in a press release on Tuesday.

"It won't, it can't, and the U.K. and EU need to wake up to that fact now, before it's too late." The U.K. is due to depart the EU on March 29.

The letter to officials in Brussels claimed that a "no-deal" Brexit could have "disastrous consequences," impacting routes, aviation safety and border security. The ERA has estimated that 1.8 million routes across Europe will be affected in the event of a no-deal Brexit.