Airlines
Ryanair UK Secures AOC, Safeguarding Its Post-Brexit Network
The Irish low-cost carrier’s 2018 passenger growth slows while new cabin strikes loom.
Most of the 139.2 million passengers that flew last year in Ryanair's network--including its 75-percent-owned subsidiary LaudaMotion--did so aboard the parent company's Boeing 737s. (Photo: Ryanair)
Most of the 139.2 million passengers that flew last year in Ryanair's network--including its 75-percent-owned subsidiary LaudaMotion--did so aboard the parent company's Boeing 737s. (Photo: Ryanair)

British regulators have issued Ryanair’s UK subsidiary an air operators certificate (AOC), thereby safeguarding the airline’s UK-originating operations against a hard Brexit amid continuing uncertainty about a new aviation agreement between the country and the European Union (EU). The UK is set to exit the bloc on March 29 and the sides have not yet concluded a deal on market access and traffic rights. Brussels last month proposed a bare-bones deal, offering British airlines third and fourth freedom rights between airports in the UK and the EU, while London would give European airlines domestic route rights if the EU reciprocates, which appears unlikely to happen.