Article date: 21 June 2016
Leading budget airline easyJet today reiterated its support for the UK remaining within the EU and was joined by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, easyJet's founder.
Carolyn McCall said today:
"It was the EU which helped revolutionise aviation in Europe by creating
the single aviation area around 20 years ago. It enabled airlines like
easyJet to offer passengers lower fares to more destinations. All
airlines were forced to respond to this new competitive environment and
all passengers have benefited. People can live, work, study and travel
across Europe in a way previous generation could not have imagined.
"The only way to guarantee that this continues is for the UK to remain
part of the EU."
easyJet started the low fares revolution in the 1990's and its founder
and largest shareholder
Stelios commented today on the referendum:
"Europe's "open skies" gave me, an airline outsider, the opportunity to
help start the low fares airline revolution. And as someone, who
continues to hold one of the biggest financial stakes in this industry I
can state categorically to the British people that flights have become
cheaper in the last 20 years because of free and fair competition
between airlines competing for your business.
"It is certainly not my place to tell people how to vote, but it is very
possible that in a post-Brexit Europe a more restrictive aviation
environment would mean fewer flights from the UK to Europe and hence
less competition between airlines. That in turn would mean higher air
fares so that the price of a family holiday to the Med will go back up
again to levels last seen in the 1980s. An "open skies" policy in
Europe has been good for travellers, good for airline employees and,
yes, good for shareholders. Let's keep it that way!"
unquote
21/06/2016 - usatoday.com
21/06/2016 - belfasttelegraph.co.uk
21/06/2016 - The Guardian.com (Comment at 15:10)
21/06/2016 - sky.com
21/06/2016 - mirror.co.uk