How Will Brexit Affect Travel?
Luciana Mangas June 24, 2016
The results are in and we discuss the travel consequences of the U.K. leaving the EU.
The Brexit referendum results were announced yesterday, marking the historic day that the United Kingdom decided to leave the European Union (EU). According to The Guardian, however, that decision comes with consequences.
The first immediate response was that the British pound plummeted to its lowest level in 30 years after the Brexit announcement, as markets across the globe reacted to the news. The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) says that while spending power will be affected, people due to travel this summer won’t see a lot of immediate change to their holiday.
“Travellers are as free to move between the U.K. and the EU as they were yesterday, European Health Insurance cards remain valid and regulations such as Air Passenger Rights remain in place. People due to travel this summer will see little changes to their holiday. Once the U.K. formally notifies the EU of its intention to leave, the remaining Member States will have up to two years to offer the U.K. a deal for a future trading relationship and during this period holidaymakers will not see any immediate changes,” said a statement released by ABTA.
Brexit will also affect flights to and from the U.K., which is why the decision was opposed by airlines such as Ryanair and EasyJet. According to ABTA, it was EU regulations “that opened up the flight market, increasing competition and ultimately leading to cheaper flights to more destinations,” and those regulations could be at risk, which can lead to higher airfare and fewer flights between the U.K. and the EU.
Since the EU was created, it has allowed its citizens to travel between countries freely without need for visas. Now that the U.K. has decided to leave the group, new travel requirements may be needed for British travelers. “If visas are required, this could make travel far more costly and lengthy than has previously been enjoyed by British holidaymakers.”
Security is also another important matter. Experts in the sector have commented that security for travelers within the European continent depends on the cooperation of the EU member states. Peter Long, former boss of the Tui travel group, which owns Thomson and First Choice, said that the terrorist attack at a resort in Tunisia in 2015 was a prime example of how European governments can “collaborate and work together in a crisis.” Cooperation between governments was vital to protect tourists on vacation.
[Photo: AP]
Norway and Norwegian Air are not in the EU and yet they manage to operate 5th Freedom Flights from UK to USA...How come?
This statement is absolutely ridiculous: “If visas are required, this could make travel far more costly and lengthy than has previously been enjoyed by British holidaymakers.” No EU member state is going to suddenly implement visa requirements for UK passports, just as they don't for US, Canadian, and other 1st world countries now. While I'd prefer to have seen the UK remain in the EU, your article is nothing more than a further effort at scaremongering seen in the campaigns. In the real world, I'll be quite surprised if we see much change in travel in Europe, they were never part of Schengen as it was so there was always a bit of distance from Europe and the UK in regards to internal travel.
So how long before RyanAir changes from an Irish Company to a UK Company
So, the bottom line is it will not affect travel much at all.
The British media have simply followed the Remain party line throughout, and trotted out the same dire warnings about what would happen, based on what they had been told by groups who had vested interests in scaring people into staying in Europe. Time will no doubt show how much they lied and scaremongered,