UK airlines may be forced to relocate their headquarters and sell off shares to EU nationals if they want to continue flying routes within continental Europe, the Guardian has revealed.
Prominent ‘Remain’ campaigner Michael O’Leary warned that flights between the UK and Europe might be significantly affected if the government opts for a hard divorce, which looks to be the likely course based on recent revelations.
Executives from easyJet along with the British Airways owner IAG, Ryanair and the Tui Group met the EU’s Brexit taskforce last week and were reminded that to continue to operate on routes across the continent they must have a significant base on EU territory and that a majority of their capital shares must be EU-owned, which could lead to a significant loss of jobs in the UK.
The ability of companies such as easyJet to operate on routes across the EU has been a major part of their business models, and many have already threatened to concentrate future growth in Europe if the current aviation agreement can’t be maintained.
Thomas van der Wijngaart, an aviation expert at the legal firm Clyde & Co, told the Guardian there could be significant economic consequences for the UK with airlines changing their financial and operating structures, and building a stronger presence on the continent.
“It might be that carriers choose to have domestic flights [on the continent] operated by their new European operating licence, which would probably mean a reduction in staff in the UK,” he warned.
As ever, it’s nice to have a reminder that we were warned.
Since you are here
Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.
Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.
Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.
If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.
To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.
The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.
The shop can be found here.
You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .
