Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary SLAMS Brexit - 'The risk of a HARD Brexit is underestimated'
13 September, 2018
In a statement given to journalists at the start of the conference, the Ryanair CEO wrote: “We remain concerned at the increasing risk of a hard (no-deal) Brexit in March 2019.
“While we hope that a 21-month transition agreement from March 2019 will be agreed, recent events in the UK have added uncertainty, and we believe that the risk of a hard Brexit (which could lead to flights being grounded for a period of days or weeks) is being underestimated.”
Ryanair have issued stark warnings about Brexit in the past, with O'Leary even going so far as to say "no doubt fares will rise" as a consequence of the UK leaving the EU.
Ryanair anticipated a no deal in March 2019 was becoming more likely. Speaking at the conference, O'Leary continued: "A hard Brexit is now more likely; our challenge is not that planes won’t land from the UK; US and Asia still will.
“But flight rights are needed for UK to Europe flights. We urgently need a deal on flight rights.
"We hope there is an agreement as we don’t want to see disruption for flights.
"One of the issues we have is the shareholder rights; we have an agreement that will disenfranchise all non-EU shareholders."
He also bemoaned the cost of Brexit, saying it had "affected growth rates", and claimed Ryanair's growth had shrunk to five per cent from "previous years of 10-11 per cent".
Government plans were also a topic of discussion, with O'Leary slamming a lack of clear planning or explanation as to the plane for flights to and from Europe after Brexit.
He said: "Chris Grayling has had no assurances from the EU that planes will continue flying. We are most concerned about choosing ‘what is the least damaging agreement’.
"The bit that has not been well explained is that flights to and from Europe will be stopped in a hard deal Brexit when you fall out of the single market as this includes open skies. Grayling has yet to explain what will go in place of this.
"I don’t believe a no-flight scenario will last more than a few weeks as it will be solved pretty damn quickly as they will struggle to explain why there are no flights between Europe. All we want to avoid is disruption. Flights rights are what we care most about, followed by ownership rights, as the airline industry is so heavily regulated."
He also explained the complexities facing all airlines after Brexit next year, and said: "The least of our problems is pilots needing licenses. How do we get Airbus wings out of Cardiff to Toulouse with large tariffs?
“It is mind bogglingly complex and stupid, but it is a democracy. I’m only concerned with my small corner of flight rights.”
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