The International Air Transport Association (IATA) believes Britain’s exit from the EU may result in a three to five per cent downturn in the number of UK passengers by 2020.
In a preliminary analysis of the move, IATA has reiterated the importance of air travel to European trade, and the fact that uncertainty in Britain’s trading arrangements will impact the airline industry.
"The Brexit vote has triggered much uncertainty,financial and otherwise,” stated IATA Director General and CEO Tony Tyler.
“As leaders in the UK and the EU work to establish a new framework for their relationship, one certainty to guide them is the need and desire of people on both sides of that relationship to travel and trade. Air transport plays a major role in making that possible. There were 117 million air passenger journeys between the UK and the EU in 2015. Air links facilitate business, support jobs and build prosperity. It is critical that whatever form the new UK-EU relationship takes, it must continue to ensure the common interests of safe, secure, efficient and sustainable air connectivity."
The UK air market is dominated by outbound traffic, with such traffic accounting for just over two-thirds of total flows.
The decision to leave the EU has already hit UK and European carriers. British Airways parent company International Airlines Group has seen a third of its share value disappear since Friday’s referendum result, while Easyjet’s share price has dropped by 22 per cent and Ryanair’s by 13.9 per cent.
IATA believes it may be two years before the precise detail of the UK’s exit plan is known, creating uncertainty in the interim. A downturn in economic activity and a fall in the Sterling exchange rate could also be factors.
But the association also believes aviation regulation will play part, which may yet turn out to be positive. The UK faces a trade-off between accessing the European Single Aviation Market and having the policy freedom to set its own regulations.
(culled from aviationbusiness.com.au)
No comments:
Post a Comment