Jobs up in air with no-deal Brexit

A NO-DEAL Brexit could devastate Ireland’s aviation industry and wipe out up to 90,000 jobs, according to one of Europe’s largest think tanks.

Frontier Economics said that if the UK left the bloc without a deal, including one on the EU-wide Open Skies treaty with the US, then the effect on Irish flights to the UK could be so devastating it could wipe out 3.2% of the nation’s economic output.

Not only could punitive new measures be introduced against Ryanair, for example, to boost UK rivals, but also many UK-controlled aviation firms based in Ireland will have to change ownership if they want to keep their EU registration.

Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act painted a stark picture for the sector, which contributes €4.1billion to the economy each year.

The findings were presented to Shane Ross during a meeting with the lobby group Airlines for America in May 2017. The group, known as A4A, has its own concerns about what a no-deal Brexit would mean for the industry in the US.

In a letter to the Transport Minister before the meeting, it warned: ‘An airline-commissioned report by Frontier Economics estimated that the impact of Brexit on the Irish aviation sector could range from between 0.1% and 3.2% of GDP, with a corresponding negative impact on jobs of between 3,000 and 90,000 jobs.’

In the absence of a replacement agreement, the group warns, Irish airlines will be severely hampered in their ability to fly from, to and within the UK.