easyJet To Set Up New Airline In Austria

UK-based low cost carrier easyJet has applied for an operating license in Austria as it looks to life in a post-Brexit business environment.

The airline said it applied earlier in the year for an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from Austro Control, and to Austria's Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology for an airline operating license.

The permissions will allow easyJet to set up a new airline in Austria and to continue flying between and within EU countries after the UK leaves the European Union in 2019.

In a statement, easyJet said “The accreditation process is now well advanced and easyJet hopes to receive the AOC and license in the near future.”

easyJet Europe will be based in Vienna and will have over 100 aircraft registered in Austria within two years of the applications being granted. The re-registration of the aircraft, from the airline’s UK AOC to the new Austrian AOC, will start before the UK leaves the EU, easyJet said.

The Luton-based airline said no jobs will leave the UK as a result of the change, but additional jobs will be created in Vienna. It said the aircraft and staff that will form easyJet Europe are already based in Europe. The airline already employs about 4000 people across continental Europe and currently has 100 aircraft based in six EU countries.

easyJet has operated in Austria for 11 years and flies over a million passengers from Innsbruck, Salzburg, Klagenfurt and Vienna airports to 20 destinations across Europe.