Ryanair’s first quarter results yesterday came with a fresh warning that flights from UK airports face being grounded by Brexit.
The Dublin-based budget airline sounded the alarm again as UK Government ministers scramble to strike an aviation deal with the EU before March 2019.
Ryanair has said several times it may be forced to cancel flights and move some of its UK-based aircraft to continental Europe from April 2019 if there is no certainty about the legal basis of flights between the UK and the EU by autumn next year.
Is there a Brexit threat to new flights from Aberdeen?…Ryanair tells passengers not to worry
Yesterday, chief financial officer Neil Sorahan said the chances of the UK remaining in the EU Open Skies agreement – through which there are no commercial restrictions for airlines flying within the EU – appeared “narrower by the day”.
Chief executive Michael O’Leary added: “We remain concerned at the uncertainty which surrounds the terms of the UK’s departure from the EU in March ‘19.
“While we continue to campaign for the UK to remain in the EU Open Skies agreement, we caution that should the UK leave, there may not be sufficient time, or goodwill on both sides, to negotiate a timely replacement bilateral.”
Mr O’Leary warned this could result in a disruption of flights between the UK and Europe from April 2019 onwards.
Doubts have also been raised about whether the ownership of some airlines will continue to meet a requirement for airlines operating within the EU to be majority-owned by the bloc’s nationals.
Ryanair, which recently started services from Aberdeen to holiday hotspots Malaga, Alicante and Faro after an absence of more than five years from the north-east gateway, was 53.6%-owned by EU nationals last year.
But many of these shareholders – about 20% of the total – were from the UK. Based on these figures and stripping out the UK shareholdings, Ryanair would come up short of the EU requirement post Brexit.
The carrier posted a 13% year-on-year rise in revenue to £1.7billion for the three months to June 30, while profits soared 55% to £356million.
Ryanair was boosted by the timing of Easter, and saw a 12% rise in customer numbers to 35million.
Average fares rose 1% in the period, but the airline expects fares to fall by 5% in the first six months of the year and by 8% in the second amid tough competition in the sector and as Ryanair passes on lower fuel costs.
Mr O’Leary, who has been a the helm of Ryanair since 1994, said: “We expect the pricing environment to remain very competitive.