Ryanair to roll out Brexit clause in tickets later this year as it says uncertainty hasn’t affected bookings yet
Ryanair confirmed today it will add a “Brexit clause” to tickets going on sale from September for 2019, as the uncertainty continued over arrangements for airlines after Britain leaves the European Union.
Ryanair said tickets for its 2019 summer flights will include a clause explaining flights are “subject to the regulatory environment allowing this flight to take place”.
The industry wants clarity over Britain’s position in the open skies agreement, which allows for transatlantic flights between the US and EU countries, after Brexit. Ryanair’s chief marketing officer, Kenny Jacobs, said “nothing has changed” from the airline’s perspective, with Britain still leaving the EU in 2019 and “still no alternative to open skies” at present.
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Ryanair said if there continues to be no regulatory alternative to open skies, “we will have to consider a change to our terms and conditions for travel to/from the UK after 1 April 2019”. It will review this ahead of the announcement of its summer 2019 schedule, on sale this autumn.
It came after Thomas Cook last year included a clause confirming it will not be liable to pay compensation or reimburse expenses for delays caused by “airspace closures”, though it will still refund tickets.
A government spokesperson said: “Aviation is absolutely crucial to the UK’s economy and we are committed to getting the best deal possible for Britain.
“We will work closely with the international aviation community to ensure that this global industry continues to be a major success story for the UK economy. This is why we want to agree the terms of an implementation period with the EU as soon as possible in order to provide vital certainty to businesses and citizens.”
Bookings unruffled
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has been a vocal critic of the lack of clarity surrounding Brexit negotiations, saying should no deal be delivered, flights could ultimately be grounded.
Today, though, the airline said bookings were remaining robust despite uncertainty.
“British people are always going to travel to Europe, Europeans are always going to travel to Britain so it hasn’t changed where Brits are booking for their summer holidays this year, and we would hope and we would expect a solution will be found so that travel will carry on as travel has,” Jacobs said.
He said the shift of sterling and the euro had led to “more Europeans inclined to go to the UK when the euro was stronger”, with London becoming cheaper, but overall, it was “not at a point yet where we’ve seen any changes in consumer behaviour”.
Shareholder shuffle
The headache for airlines regarding share ownership when Britain leaves the EU also continues, with Jacobs saying a new solution will need to be found in how ownership is handled. Airlines could be forced to comply with the EU’s foreign ownership rules when Britain leaves the bloc – needing majority control and ownership by EU nationals.
Jacobs said shareholders are considering their options.
“Do they move their shareholding, from example London to Frankfurt. Some may look at selling, some will look at rebasing.”
Scrapping plastic
Today the airline also pledged to slash the amount of plastic it uses, with a five-year plan to eliminate plastics from its operations altogether.
Jacobs said:
For customers on board, this will mean initiatives such as a switch to wooden cutlery, bio-degradable coffee cups, and the removal of plastics from our range of in-flight products.
We will also introduce a scheme to allow customers to offset the carbon cost of their flight through a voluntary climate charity donation online.
Ryanair is also creating an in-house claims team to deal with compensation grievances raised by passengers faster – within 10 days, and is looking into automatic payment of compensation as the next step.
Ryanair changes unveiled today
Price promise – says it will refund the difference if passengers find a cheaper fare for the same flight within a two-hour time frame
Punctuality – pledged to have 90 per cent of flights on time – up from 86 per cent
Dedicated in-house claims team – to ensure valid EU261 claims are processed in 10 days
Greenest airline bid – will be plastic free by 2023
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