August 9

UK Travel Today: The Short Term and Long Term Implications of Brexit

It is probably fair to say that the UK referendum result on whether to remain or leave the EU, caught a fair number of people by surprise, especially financial markets.

 

Financial markets don’t like uncertainty and Brexit definitely created that in the minds of some investors, but aside from the stock market implications, what is the likely impact of leaving the EU going to be for UK travellers.

 

In the short term, we are still in the EU of course and will remain so until Article 50 is triggered. This means that nothing has changed yet, so if your flight is delayed or cancelled for example, and you think you may be eligible to claim compensation, try Bott & Co’s claim checker to see if you can claim compensation under current regulations, using their guide to help you navigate the jargon.

Here is a look at some of the UK travel implications for the short and longer term, as a result of the Brexit vote.

 

Travel restrictions

 

For many potential scenarios, fear and reality don’t always become the best of friends, which means that the talk of travel restrictions for UK travellers once we leave the EU, is largely overstated.

 

It is highly likely that once the UK actually leaves the EU, whenever that happens to be, British citizens are not going to require visas to travel into the EU, although you can probably expect to need to make your way through passport control upon arrival.

 

Some pessimists have suggested that if Brexit results in a wider break-up of the current European Union, we could see the introduction of border controls as a replacement to current EU travel agreements, but for the foreseeable future, it is hard to envisage UK travellers experiencing any noticeable travel restrictions, despite the Brexit result.

 

An end to compensation for delayed flights

 

As already highlighted, travellers are currently entitled to claim compensation for delayed flights and cancellations, under the current EU regulations.

 

If you believe some travel commentators, the pessimistic view is that leaving the EU will leave UK citizens less protected and even unable to claim compensation in the form of money, food, drink and accommodation, that they currently are able to do so from airlines.

 

There is no hard evidence to support this theory and airline consumers represent a significant number, which means that any attempts to water down current compensation levels will be vigorously defended, and with the fear of passengers voting with their feet and their wallets for any airlines who don’t look after their customers in times of trouble, it is unrealistic to think that Brexit will signal the end of justifiable compensation when flights are delayed or cancelled.

 

Car park figures are revealing

 

Brexit led to some predictions of a slowdown in the economy and a drop in passenger numbers heading for the airports, but these figures are still heading north rather than south, even after the referendum result.

 

Demand for air travel is expected to grow by as much as 80% over the next 20 years according to a comprehensive recent survey. This is supported by the growth in demand for long-term car parking spaces at airports around the UK and planned investments to increase capacity.

 

If you think that Brexit might have had a negative effect on the travel industry, a quick scan around the car parks at major airports will reveal a different story.

 

Penny Dalton is a mature student who is studying journalism. She enjoys writing articles on news-worthy topics, trying her best to come up with a different slant on topics that are being covered heavily.


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