EasyJet outlines post-Brexit ownership compliance plan

EasyJet has detailed the steps it has taken to Brexit-proof its operations and says it has a plan in place to ensure it meets EU ownership and control regulations, regardless of whether or not airlines are given an adjustment period after the UK departs the bloc. In a Feb. 7 AGM statement, easyJet chairman John Barton said the carrier is 49% EU-owned—just shy of the 50% plus one share required under EU law—but there are a number of steps it can take to quickly close the gap in the event of a no-deal Brexit. “If the EU does not give airlines any adjustment period to comply with the applicable EU ownership and control regulations, the board stands ready to activate existing provisions of our Articles of Association to ensure that the company will comply following Brexit,” Barton said. According to media reports, revisions to draft EU Brexit legislation state that airlines will have two weeks from the law’s adoption to submit plans outlining how they will comply with ownership and control regulations. However, they would then be given until Oct. 27, 2019—seven months after the UK is scheduled to leave the EU—to enact those plans and become compliant. <br/>