Ryanair Offers Cheap Flights for Expats To Go Back Home and Vote Remain
Irish budget airline Ryanair have begun offering tickets from Spain for British expats to fly home on June 22nd and 23rd. The
tickets are just €19.99 and are for expats who want to vote to remain in the
EU.
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| Cheap flights by Ryan Air are received well by expats in Spain |
It’s estimated that two million Brits have moved to other
countries in the European Union with the majority of them, at least a million,
currently living in Spain.
It’s expected that the real number of Brits abroad could be
as much as 50% higher than this estimate though, as many of them either forget
to register they are living in another country or deregister in the UK. It also
doesn’t include the expats who are not permanent residents who spend roughly
half the year abroad and half at home.
The CEO of Ryanair, Michael O’Leary, has said that even
though his airline is based in Ireland it remains the largest airline in the UK
and is a major source of employment for Britain as a whole.
Roughly 3,000 people work for Ryanair, spread across 13
airports in the UK. They take about 41 million people to and from the UK each
year.
O’Leary is strongly against the so-called “Brexit” and says
that the open skies policy of the EU has led to a dramatic rise in tourism.
O’Leary says Britain is one of the most competitive
economies in Europe thanks in part to the goods, services, and people they are
allowed to move around the 28 member states.
He believes that British prime minister David Cameron was
able to use the “wish list” he presented to the other member states to ensure
Britain never has to join the Euro and will deal with less red tape overall.
O’Leary believes that if Britain were to exit the EU then
investment that currently goes to the UK could go to Germany and the Republic
of Ireland instead.
These “Fly home to vote remain” tickets, priced at €19.99,
are valid at any any UK airport and from any airport in the EU, such as those
in Spain. They are also available to any nationality and not just Brits,
although the only non-Brits who can vote in the referendum are those that
belong to the Commonwealth or are Irish citizens.
Brits living in Spain and the EU are able to fly home and vote as long
as they haven’t been outside of the UK for more than 15 years. An appeal was
brought by two expats, including the 94-year-old war veteran Harry Schindler in
Italy. It was rejected by the High Court and is now headed to the British
Supreme Court.
The deadline for Brits abroad to vote by post has now passed
and the British embassy in Spain have confirmed that they began sending ballots
out on May 23rd.
Some of these ballots have been received and returned, so
some expats have already voted in the referendum a month before it will actually
be held.
