London - Ryanair, Europe’s largest low-cost airline, will focus on growing at airports in the EU and shift its focus away from the UK following Britain’s vote to leave the EU.
The airline, which openly campaigned for Britain to stay in the EU, called the Brexit vote both a “surprise” and a “disappointment” in a trading statement.
Ryanair said it would shift its strategy away from the UK as some clarity emerges on UK’s long-term political and economic relationship with Europe.
“We will pivot our growth away from UK airports and focus more on growing at our EU airports over the next two years,” the company said in the statement.
“This winter we will cut capacity and frequency on many London Stansted routes (although no routes will close) where we are significantly ahead of our multi-year traffic growth targets.”
Ryanair predicted the Brexit vote would have a downward pressure on fares until the end of next year.
However, it acknowledged that it could create new opportunities, depending on post-Brexit new regulations.
“There may also be some opportunities if our UK registered competitors are no longer permitted to operate intra-EU routes, or must divest their majority ownership of EU registered airlines,” a company spokesperson said.
The Independent