Easyjey- Supplementary written evidence (TAS0073)

Submission to the Lords EU Internal Market Sub-Committee on the inquiry Brexit: future trade between the UK and the EU

You focused on the UK getting a bespoke free trade deal on aviation with the EU. Could you explain what being a member of the EEA would mean for aviation services? Would this be an attractive option – for example, saving the amount of bilateral aviation agreements the Government might have to pursue if were to leave the Single Market? What would it mean in terms of market access – would it be the same as what the UK enjoys at the moment?

easyJet believes that a bespoke aviation agreement between the UK and the EU will be needed.

Whilst easyJet is not advocating the EAA model specifically, it is the case that current EEA members are part of the liberal aviation market.

Members during the meeting asked about what the implications of Brexit might be for a UK airline owned or controlled by another airline based in the EU (i.e. British Airways and IAG). Barry, you said that these takeovers were able to take place due to “complicated governance procedures”. Could you go into more detail about what these procedures are? If not, could you put us in touch with someone who might be able to explain this in more detail, given the context of Brexit?

easyJet is not able to comment on the arrangements for other airlines.

Related to this, Barry, you also mentioned that ownership and control requirements might be more problematic for smaller budget airlines after Brexit – which have shareholdings spread across the EU. Sophie, you said this would not be a problem for Easyjet because you have “much more even split” in shareholdings. Could you explain in more detail what you meant?

Although it is not appropriate to discuss individual shareholders, 49 per cent of our current shareholders would be considered European (i.e. EU27) post Brexit, so we don’t have far to move to have a majority of EU shareholders.

You all recognised that Gibraltar could become problematic in negotiations but hoped that sense would prevail. Is there any action you would recommend the Government took now to handle this issue?

As we said to the Committee, an important factor will also be that Spain is one of the main beneficiaries of inbound UK aviation. We are sure that the UK and Spanish governments will take this in to consideration as part of the discussions.

Members mentioned the impact Brexit might have on air traffic management services. Does this raise any concerns for you? How well could ATM services be coordinated under a bespoke deal or EEA membership?

Air traffic is currently largely managed on a national basis, so this is not likely to be significantly affected.

Eurocontrol, which oversees air traffic management across Europe, is an non-EU intergovernmental organisation with 41 member states.

11 November 2016