Speaking at the Jet2holidays VIP conference November 26-29), Heapy said he still held out hope for a “painless” Brexit, despite ongoing political wrangling.
Heapy branded Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement “tentative” and “vague” and said there were three key requirements for airline Jet2.com and tour operator Jet2holidays; the right to fly to and from the UK and Europe; freedom of movement of labour; and freedom of movement of capital.
“I always get asked ‘what’s going to happen with Brexit?’ ‘What does Brexit mean?’, said Heapy. “The honest answer is, I haven’t a clue.
“We have a tentative agreement between the UK and EU, but there’s a long long way to go. The agreement ha some vague things in it but they need to work on the detail.”
Heapy said he was “very confident” there would be provision for the right to fly from the UK to Europe and from Europe to the UK.
“I’m very confident we will get those,” he said. “It would be absolutely insane for the EU not to let UK airlines fly to Europe.”
As of summer 2019, Jet2 will fly 387 routes to 70 destinations across 21 countries. Its fleet, meanwhile, will grow to 103 aircraft, more than double Thomas Cook’s 46 and 36 more than Tui’s 67.
Jet2 currently employs 1,000 people abroad and a “large number” of EU nationals in the UK, said Heapy, making freedom of movement of labour absolutely vital.
He added freedom of movement of capital currently meant that as a member of the EU, it was was as easy to do a transaction in Berlin as it is Birmingham. “[Currently], it’s as if it’s an extension of the UK. We need to have that freedom to do transactions abroad,” said Heapy.
Heapy also took the opportunity to reassure agents they would be the first to know what Brexit means for Jet2.
“We are watching this very carefully,” he said. “We have lawyers and industry people watching this and working out what it means. As soon as we know, we will let you know.
“Hopefully, it will be pretty painless, but there is a long way to go.”
