His bleak assessment could spell bad news for Liverpool John Lennon Airport from where the carrier operates more than 30 destinations, most of them within the EU. Tony McDonough reports
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary says a hard Brexit could halt all flights between the UK and the EU for months.
His bleak assessment could spell bad news for Liverpool John Lennon Airport from where the carrier operates more than 30 destinations, most of them within the EU.
Describing Brexit as “one of the great economic suicide notes in history” Mr O’Leary said that unless an deal is reached to replace current EU airline agreements before March 2019 then all flights will be grounded.
The current Open Skies agreement allows all airlines registered in the EU to operate in each other’s countries.
However, unlike other sectors, Brexit without a proper deal in place is a huge problem for airlines as they cannot simply fall back on World Trade Association rules.
Former British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh has called for the EU and UK to sign a comprehensive agreement on aviation long before the Brexit deadline.
But, addressing the European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee in Brussels, Mr O’Leary said there was too little goodwill in Europe towards the UK.
“This is going to be a real mess,” he said.
“There is not going to be an interim agreement, there is not going to be a legal basis, we will be cancelling flights, we will be cancelling people’s holidays for summer of 2019.
“The French and the Germans, when they have the opportunity to stick one into the British, they like nothing better.”
He added the “only sensible option” was for the British government to overturn the Referendum result and remain in the EU.