EasyJet seeks non-UK licence following Brexit vote: report

[PARIS] Low-cost airline easyJet will not wait for Britain to formally leave the European Union before getting an air operator's certificate (AOC) in another European Union country, French newspaper Les Echos cited its chief executive as saying on Wednesday. "We cannot wait for 2019, when quitting the EU will take effect," Carolyn McCall told the newspaper.

Currently EU airlines have unlimited flying rights to and from and within the countries of the bloc and it is not clear whether Britain will seek to remain part of this single aviation market.

If Britain does not keep full access to the single aviation market, easyJet is likely to be the European carrier most affected because it will need an EU AOC to fly on routes between other EU member states, such as Berlin-Brussels, or to offer domestic routes within another member state as part of the bloc's single aviation area.

Analysts estimate such routes make up about a third of its business. "That is why we have been working for over a year on an alternative ... An announcement regarding the acquisition of an operator's certificate in another EU country is planned for 2017," she told the paper.

In September, months after British voters opted to leave the EU, Ms McCall said its work on acquiring an AOC outside Britain, where it is headquartered, was "quite advanced".

REUTERS