British pound in the doldrums

LONDON, 5 September 2017: The Brexit-hit UK pound threatens to reach parity with the euro — and is already worth less than the European single currency for many travellers seeking to exchange cash at airports.

Sterling went into free-fall after Britain voted in a shock referendum last year to leave the EU, sparking fears over the nation’s economic outlook.

The pound was trading at approximately 1.3072 euros as voters headed to the polls on June 23, 2016. Read more

UK airlines face a hard Brexit

LONDON, 4 August 2017: Ryanair chief executive, Michael O’Leary, hit out at rival European airlines Wednesday, claiming they opposed Britain securing a “favourable deal” over routes following Brexit.

Britain accounts for about one-quarter of revenues earned by the Irish no-frills airline, causing O’Leary and Ryanair in general to be extremely vocal regarding perceived risks of the country exiting the European Union.

“There’s no doubt in our minds that the German and French airlines in particular are opposed to the UK getting any favourable deal,” O’Leary told a London press conference Wednesday. Read more

EasyJet secures Euro base

LONDON, 24 July 2017: EasyJet has secured an air operator’s certificate in Austria that will enable it to keep flying across the EU after Brexit, the low-cost carrier said last week, and lifted earnings guidance.

The news, which comes one week after the British low-cost airline revealed it had applied to Austrian authorities to establish a new Vienna-based EasyJet Europe division, was contained in a trading update.

“Our European AOC (air operator’s certificate) has now been awarded and the first flight by an EasyJet Europe aircraft takes place today,” said the company’s outgoing chief executive Carolyn McCall. Read more

Ryanair challenges Lufthansa

FRANKFURT, 2 March 2017: Irish low-cost airline Ryanair on Tuesday said it will expand routes from Germany’s Frankfurt airport in future, but warned of challenges ahead for the airline industry from Brexit.

The carrier will offer 20 new routes from Frankfurt to “sexy” destinations across Europe in its winter 2017 to 2018 flight plan, chief executive Michael O’Leary told a press conference at the airport.

Ryanair currently flies to Frankfurt-Hahn, situated about 120 kilometres (75 miles) from the city. Read more

Brexit saps Ryanair profits

LONDON, 7 February 2017: Ryanair logged sliding quarterly net profits on Monday as the Irish no-frills carrier flew into challenging headwinds facing the sector, such as Brexit, competition and overcapacity.

Profit after tax fell 8% to 95 million euros (USD102 million) in the third quarter or three months to December from a year earlier, the Dublin-based group said in a statement. That undershot expectations of 102 million euros.

Earnings sagged as the pound weakened sharply after Britain’s decision to exit the European Union in a shock referendum last June. Read more

EasyJet fears profits hard hit

LONDON, 25 January 2017: EasyJet expects full-year profits to suffer a bigger-than-expected hit with the pound down sharply since Britain voted to exit the European Union, the no-frills British airline said Tuesday.

At the same time, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said the Irish rival to EasyJet would postpone a plan to create more UK jobs this year as the country prepares for a “very hard Brexit”.

Ryanair created 450 UK jobs last year, while O’Leary on Tuesday also did not rule out the loss of existing posts. Read more

Rise and fall of pound and dollar

NEW YORK, 18 January 2017: The dollar tumbled Tuesday after President-elect, Donald Trump, said the American currency was too strong, while the pound rallied after British Prime Minister Theresa May released her Brexit blueprint.

The fluctuations in foreign exchange came as most larger equity markets fell as markets look ahead to Friday’s inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump.

The greenback fell sharply against the euro, pound and other major currencies following a Trump interview, published in Monday’s Wall Street Journal, in which he called the dollar “too strong” and said China’s comparatively cheap currency was “killing us.” Read more

Spain: Room to grow

MADRID, 17 January 2017: Spain expects foreign visitors to the country to rise even further after it hosted a record 75.3 million international travellers last year.

“Far be it from me to think that we have hit a ceiling, we are far from that,” Tourism Minister Alvaro Nadal told a news conference, held late last week, to present tourism figures for 2016.

Tourist arrivals, last year increased by 9.9% over the 68.1 million foreign visitors who flocked to the country in 2015. It was the fourth consecutive year of record arrivals. Read more

UK pound erodes Easyjet profit

LONDON, 16 November 2016: British low-cost airline EasyJet warned, Tuesday, it faced further financial turbulence from a Brexit-driven slump in the pound after terror attacks and labour disputes took their toll on annual profits.

Pre-tax profit tumbled by 28% to UKP495 million (USD618 million, 574 million euros) in the year to 30 September compared with 2014 to 2015 “mainly due to the decline in revenue and foreign exchange impact”, EasyJet said in an earnings statement.

It added that currency fluctuations would cost it around UKP90 million during the current financial year, with UKP70 million in the first half. EasyJet said it planned cost savings but gave no firm details. Read more

Brexit blow for Ryanair

LONDON, 8 November 2016: Ireland’s budget airline Ryanair said Monday that first-half profits were hit by the slumping pound following Britain’s June vote to leave the European Union.

Net profits, or earnings after taxation, stood at 1.2 billion euros (USD1.3 billion) in the six months to the end of September, Ryanair said in a results statement.

That marked a 7% increase from 1.1 billion euros in 2015, but was a major slowdown from the 37% year-on-year jump seen in the first half of 2014. Read more

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