Ryanair warns of UK downsizing if Britain leaves the EU
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has warned the airline will put fewer aircraft in the UK if it votes to leave the EU.
O’Leary, a vocal support of the Remain campaign, said if there is a vote to exit on Thursday, Ryanair will look to move some of the aircraft currently in its 26 UK airports to other countries.
He said this would, of course, lead to job losses.
If it stays, it will continue to invest very heavily in its UK operations, he told Bloomberg TV this morning.
The airline’s chief executive said with the UK economy so strong at the moment, it was ‘absolutely insanely crazy’ to pick this time to leave.
He said although the airline has been frustrated in the past by legislation from Brussels, it was wrong for Britain to quit.
"You can’t leave the pitch and then argue which way you want the game played," he said.
He also believes a ‘Brexit’ would ultimately lead to the end of the EU.
"If the UK leaves I think it’s inevitable that’s the end of the European project," he said.
"It will be very hard to keep the EU together, or at least the peripheral countries. The central countries – the Germans, the Dutch, the Belgians, possibly the French – will continue to go along, but the EU will be fatally damaged."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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