In the British debate over staying in the EU or leaving, both sides have been predicting contradictory scenarios of doom and disaster or glorious sunshine…but now it involves something serious: holiday fares on budget airlines.
In announcements sure to shake up many households, Stellos Haji-Ionnaou, the founder of Easyjet told the press that “It is certainly not my place to tell people how to vote, but it is very possible that — in a post-Brexit Europe — a more restrictive aviation environment would mean fewer flights from the UK to Europe and hence less competition between airlines. That in turn would mean higher air fares so that the price of a family holiday to the (Mediteranean) will go back up again to levels last seen in the 1980s.”
Michael O’Leary, Ryanair chief, in a May interview, said that “One of the great things that EU has delivered is low-fare air traffic.” Both airlines, and other discounters, have benefited from EU’s open-skies regulations that allow airlines to run flights without regard to borders.
In the event Britain decides to leave, other adjustments might happen. Easyjet has been reported to be considering setting up a separate European operation or moving to an EU country; Ryanair is already based in EU-member Ireland, but a large part of its business, and Easyjet’s, is in the British market.
