EU and US officials were hoping Sunday to avoid a legal vacuum threatening to disrupt transatlantic travel after failing to reach agreement on the transfer of airline passenger data before a court deadline passed.
European negotiators flew out of Washington on Saturday after the US side introduced fresh requirements which were not within their mandate to accept, EU sources said.

However transatlantic airlines continued Sunday to hand over the information required by the US authorities, regardless of any legal vacuum, according to airline spokesmen.

Both the US and EU sides stressed that they were close to an agreement and that discussions would continue this week, with EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini and US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff likely to speak by telephone on Sunday.

"There is no deal. It's a shame because we are 90 percent there," EU spokesman Jonathan Todd told reporters in Brussels on Sunday. "The EU team has flown out of Washington but talks will continue this week."