Brexit may isolate UK without quick aviation deal: Ryanair

Bloomberg

The UK could lose its air links with European Union countries after Brexit becomes a reality in 2019 if aviation isn’t made a priority in negotiations on the terms of the schism, Ryanair Holdings Plc warned.
In splitting from the EU, Britain could lose even the most basic flying rights and won’t be able to simply revert to bilateral treaties, Kenny Jacobs, the Irish carrier’s chief marketing officer, said on Wednesday as Prime Minister Theresa May’s government prepared to trigger the legal exit mechanism.
“If you don’t see a solution by March 2019 there’s now the distinct possibility that for a number of months there may be no flying between the U.K. and Europe until a new deal is put together,” Jacobs said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “That’s the extreme situation, but this is unprecedented.”
Britain and the EU need to make air travel ‘priority number one in the negotiations’ and ideally develop a plan guaranteeing the continuity of flights this year to avoid the worst disruption, the executive said. Carriers are already planning timetables for 2018, and given the current uncertainty capacity is likely to shrink on some European routes next spring, he added.
Of the 200 million people entering and leaving the UK each year, 150 million are Europeans, he said, while 80 percent of vacationing Britons choose Europe for their foreign holidays.
While based in Dublin, Ryanair draws about 40 percent of its customers from Britain and counts London Stansted as its biggest base. Europe’s largest discount carrier would also need to source a UK air operating certificate to continue offering domestic services in the country, though those account for less than 2 percent of its business.
“If we need to get one and we want to continue to operate those routes we think that will be straightforward,” Jacobs said. “That’s not that big a deal.”
Luton, England-headquartered EasyJet Plc, Ryanair’s biggest discount rival, has more at stake, requiring an EU AOC in order to maintain most flights from its 17 bases outside the UK.
Ryanair’s call for an expedited aviation deal maintaining the status quo contrasts with comments from Deutsche Lufthansa AG Chief Executive Officer Carsten Spohr, who told Bloomberg last week that he expects France and Germany to take a hard line in the negotiations.
It’ll be “virtually impossible” to reach a comprehensive agreement in the time available, making disruption almost inevitable, Spohr said, adding that continental governments and the EU Commission won’t be prepared to “pretend that nothing has happened.”
Jacobs said that politicians and bureaucrats needs to think more about “the consumer in the middle” of the Brexit debate.
“No one voted for restricted air travel, no one voted for higher fares and no one voted for isolation, but that’s a possibility,” he said. “We hope it doesn’t happen.”