Just days after outspoken CEO Michael O’Leary claimed Ryanair may cancel all flights for a day to punish the UK for Brexit, his chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs has said the airline is confident that flights would not come to a halt after the UK leaves the European Union.
Speaking in London, Kenny Jacobs said he thought that significant progress had been made in negotiations in recent weeks, a U-turn from Ryanair’s previous position that flights between the UK & EU would cease post BREXIT.
Mr Jacobs said “We don’t think flights will be grounded in 2019. The two sides are definitely getting closer to a transition deal that will manage to the end of 2020.”
He did add a note of caution however about future deals saying “What happens after January 2021 is more uncertain. The signals there are more negative than we would like. Market access is not guaranteed.”
Theresa May has said that the UK would continue to have close relations with the European aviation authority EASA post BREXIT indicating negotiations about the aviation sector appear to be heading in the right direction.
Talks with other members of the Airlines For Europe lobbying body had encouraged Ryanair about the future of aviation in Europe.