Ryanair chief’s fears over loss of Open Skies access following vote
BUDGET AIRLINE Ryanair said it fears that Britain’s plans for withdrawal from the European Union could result in the loss of access to the EU’s Open Skies deregulated aviation market in as little as two years.
Michael O’Leary, chief executive of the Irish carrier, said he didn’t think Britain could get interim arrangements through 27 European parliaments in a twoyear period.
He said: “We worry that the price of remaining in Open Skies will be the UK accepting freedom of movement of people. I think that may be unlikely, in which case we may be heading for a very hard Brexit.
“I don’t think it is possible to get interim arrangements through 27 European parliaments in a twoyear period, so the British will fall off a cliff in two years’ time.”
Mr O’Leary said that Ryanair will continue to move capacity to other parts of Europe but warned that uncertainty around Brexit could affect demand across the continent.
“There will be slower UK growth but also slower European growth,” he said, adding that a so-called hard Brexit would be “a catastrophe for the UK economy but also for neighbouring economies”.
In July, Ryanair said the decision by Britain to quit the European Union was “a surprise and a disappointment”. The carrier added: “We will pivot our growth away from UK airports and focus more on growing at our EU airports over the next two years.”
In November, Ryanair said it would be opening a new base in Frankfurt. The budget airline will start operating flights from Frankfurt am Main, the city’s main airport, flying four new routes to Alicante, Faro, Malaga and Palma.
Ryanair has overtaken Lufthansa as Europe’s biggest airline by passenger numbers. Lufthansa’s 109.7 million passengers last year fell short of the 117 million passengers reported by Ryanair, a 15 per cent increase on the previous year, as Ryanair pulled in passengers with low prices.
Lufthansa remains the largest airline group in Europe in terms of revenue because it does more long-haul flying and has its own catering and aircraft maintenance units.