Austria Chosen for easyJet Europe

Low-cost carrier easyJet has revealed that it has applied for an Austrian Air Operator Certificate (AOC) as part of its Brexit contingency plan.  It has also applied to Austria’s Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (bmvit) for an airline operating licence.

The Luton-based airline has been working on securing an additional AOC since last year’s Brexit referendum, in which the UK voted to leave the European Union.  easyJet says the accreditation process is “well advanced”.  Once it has secured the AOC and licence it will establish a new airline, easyJet Europe, which will be headquartered in Vienna.  This will enable the carrier to continue to operate across Europe and domestically within EU countries after the UK has left the union.

Around 100 of easyJet’s aircraft are currently based in Europe and the carrier says these will form the basis of the new airline.  It says new jobs will be created in Austria as a result, but none will move from the UK to Vienna.

easyJet has remained silent on the process until now, but say it is making details public because the “AOC approval process requires the updating of easyJet’s safety systems and processes which will make public the regulator it has applied to”.

The airline says it opted for Austria because it was the “best fit”.  Despite this move, easyJet says it will continue to push for the UK and EU to reach an “aviation agreement which, at a minimum, will enable flights between the UK and EU to continue as normal”.

In other news, the airline is on the hunt for a new CEO, after Dame Carolyn McCall was announced as the new chief executive of ITV.  Dame Carolyn, who has headed up easyJet since 2010, said it was a difficult decision to leave the airline but the time was right for a new challenge.

John Barton, easyJet Chairman, said: “I speak for absolutely everyone at easyJet in saying we will be sorry to see Carolyn leave and that we wish her well in her exciting new role.”