EasyJet, one of Europe's biggest discount airlines, may buy a German airline to make sure it can still hop all over the continent after its home country, the U.K., leaves the European Union.
Last Friday, a board member of TUIfly, also a no-frills operator, said the airline is in talks to be bought by EasyJet, and that the talks have been going on "for some time." TUIfly is presently owned by a leading tour operator, TUI.
Under the EU's Single European Sky rules, any European airline can fly between any two European cities, a privilege that British airlines might lose once Britain is no longer an EU member.
That wouldn't affect RyanAir, the only discounter bigger than EasyJet; it's headquartered in Ireland, an EU member with no plans to leave. But RyanAir has warned that it will be concentrating on increasing its European traffic for now, with less emphasis on new flights to and from Britain.
For EasyJet, the possibility of buying a European airline is one leg of its strategy; it's also applied for an air operator certificate in another European country; that would allow it continued access to all EU countries. If it goes that route, or with the merger, its headquarters would move to Europe, although its operating base would stay at London's Luton airport.
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