easyJet (London Luton) has said it would assist its 1,400 pilots to relocate their licences from the United Kingdom jurisdiction to Austria as a part of preparations for the worst-case scenario no-deal Brexit, Air Transport World has reported.
"Depending on the outcome of the Brexit negotiations, UK-issued pilot licenses, after the UK leaves the European Union (EU), could be no longer valid within the EU. That’s why we have worked with the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority’s and Austro Control to come up with a solution," the airline spokesperson said.
The process of relocation is due to commence in November 2018. It would only include pilots who would continue to be employed by easyJet and easyJet UK. Pilots only operating within the UK or holding German-issued pilot licences will be excluded.
The United Kingdom should leave the European Union by the end of March 2019, although it is so far not clear on what terms that will happen and whether there will be a transition period.
Besides setting up a separate UK unit, easyJet already launched an Austrian subsidiary, easyJet Europe (EC, Vienna), to prevent adverse effects of a no-deal Brexit.
