Brexit: Three Things That Could Happen To Travel If The U.K. Leaves The European Union
by Daniel McCarthy /Runway at London's Heathrow Airport. Photo:
When the U.K. votes tomorrow to stay or leave the European Union (E.U.), its impact will ripple across the Atlantic to North America. Travelers from the United States and Canada will face new rules and a whole new set of policies if the United Kingdom leaves.
Here are three things that could potentially change:
1. Travel to the U.K. could get cheaper.
A vote to leave would bring uncertainty about the country’s immediate economic future, which would lower the value of the British pound.
As the vote approaches, the value of the pound is already dropping—last June one British pound was worth $1.575, but this week it is $1.46. According to the U.K. Treasury’s worst-case forecast, the pound could drop by 15% more.
A cheaper pound would mean more affordable travel to and lodging in London—the second most popular summer travel destination according to AAA—and other U.K. cities from North America and give Americans more value for the money they spend within the U.K.
2. Through flying within Europe could get more expensive.
The biggest budget airlines in Europe—easyJet, Ryanair, Norwegian SAS and Wizz Air—can keep costs low because they’re operating within an open skies policy in Europe. If the United Kingdom votes to leave, grabbing a cheap flight from London to Paris won’t be as easy as it is today.
The airlines will have to deal with new, more restrictive rules that would lead to higher fares for consumers. To that end, a number of budget-airline executives have come out to support the U.K.’s staying in the E.U.
EasyJet chief executive Carolyn McCall said the creation of the E.U. 20 years ago “helped revolutionize aviation in Europe by creating the single aviation area…It enabled airlines like easyJet to offer passengers lower fares to more destinations.”
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary told CNBC that “one of the things that U.K. citizens can understand that Europe has delivered for them has been the low-fare travel revolution.”
3. U.K. custom lines could become a major headache.
On average, Americans traveling to the U.K. enjoy shorter wait times at customs because EU citizens enter through a separate line. If the U.K. leaves, travelers can say goodbye to those E.U. lines at London Heathrow and hello to longer queues and wait times. And cell phone roaming charges also may go up, as the U.K. will have to abandon a European-wide network and switch to an independent one.