Brexit and the regional airlines

The European Regions Airline Association (ERA) is advocating a soft Brexit for aviation, director general Simon McNamara told a media briefing on Monday 20 February.  Stephanie Taylor of Emerald Media reports.

In McNamara’s words, “the ERA wants to keep the status quo.” While acknowledging the association was the first to criticise the European Union’s law-making, he said it also recognised that the benefits of market liberalisation offered by the EU far out-weigh any faults in the system.

Keen to emphasise the ERA’s pan-European identity, McNamara outlined three key things it wants to achieve from Brexit:  The continuation of the UK’s access to EU traffic rights, intra-community leasing and the EASA system. Jonathan Sullivan, MD of Seabury Aviation & Aerospace, stated it was people in the regions, not the big cities, who were asking for better opportunities and that regional aviation would continue to play a role in providing these.

However, the problem arises when regionals are successful on small yet important business routes and “they work themselves out of a job”, said Sullivan, “with larger LCCs coming to capitalise on their progress.  This could be one reason why 70% of ERA operators offer ACMI operations as part of their core business, something McNamara says is a growing trend. 

www.eraa.org

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