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LONDON (Alliance News) - Airline International Consolidated Airlines said the Brexit referendum was hitting demand for flights on Friday, as former Prime Minister John Major and The Economist magazine weighed in on the issue.
International Consolidated Airlines Group, the owner of British Airways, used its first quarter results on Friday to cite uncertainty ahead of the Brexit referendum as a reason for depressed demand for flights.
IAG said that this, along with worries caused by the terror attacks which hit Brussels in March, had resulted in the group adding less capacity than originally planned for the spring season.
Willie Walsh, IAG's chief executive, said in a conference call that demand is likely to revive in the third quarter as tourist travel from the US and Japan recovers once the decision about the UK's place in the EU is made.
Elsewhere, former Prime Minister John Major claimed the UK's relationship with the US would "wither" in the event of the UK leaving the EU.
The former Tory leader, speaking to BBC radio, said: "America needs an ally inside the EU and it could no longer be us." He added Scotland may well choose to leave the UK in the event of a Brexit.
"I'm no starry eyed Europhile, but I have no doubt where our future lies," Major said. "Painting Britain as a victim of Europe is simply ludicrous. We gain more than we give, we win more than we lose."
The Economist magazine also weighed in on the Brexit issue. It said leaving the EU would not "delink" the British economy from the rest of Europe, but would worsen the terms on which trade is conducted and reduce the influence the UK has on European affairs.
"History suggests that the choice to leave the EU would probably not prove a calamitous one in economic terms. That does not mean it would be astute," the magazine said.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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