On 2 January 2018, the low-cost airline Ryanair confirmed that its subsidiary, Ryanair UK, had filed an application on December 21 for an air operating certificate (AOC) with the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority, so that it can keep flying its domestic UK routes after Brexit.

Already in July 2017, the British airline EasyJet applied to Austro Control, the air navigation services provider that controls Austrian airspace, for an air operator certificate and to Austria’s Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (bmvit) for an airline operating licence, in order to establish a new airline, EasyJet Europe, headquartered in Vienna, and to continue operating flights both across Europe and domestically within European countries after the UK has left the EU.

In October 2017, also the low-cost competitor Wizz Air applied for a British air operating certificate.

Ryanair’s application for an air operating certificate in the UK follows the airline’s concerns on the impact of Brexit in the aviation sector, especially in case an agreement between the UK and the European Union could not be reached.

Davide Scavuzzo