'˜Don't fret at Brexit' says airport finance chief

'Don't panic about Brexit' was the message Luton Airport's chief financial officer gave at a business event held this month.

Elliott Renton is the CFO at London Luton Airport and was among the guest speakers at an industry event hosted by the Beds, Bucks and Herts Institute of Chartered Accountants on Thursday, September 9.

Despite voting for Remain in the recent EU referendum, Mr Renton said it was business as usual at the airport following the result. He added that none of the airport’s suppliers and retailers had yet raised it as a concern.

Mr Renton said: “Our view is as I explained – don’t panic. There is simply not enough information to know what the [impact] is going to be of the Brexit vote.

“We still are not spending much energy on coming up with a Plan B because at the moment we don’t know.

“Our energy is on improving our business, improving the passenger experience, not worrying about Plan Bs for a large number of potential scenarios that could happen over the next two to three years.”

easyJet CEO Carolyn McCall was among the prominent voices for the remain campaign. The referendum result triggered questions whether the airline will continue to be based in Luton.

Mr Renton said: “I’ll let Carolyn McCall talk about easyJet’s future as opposed to me talking about it. All I would say is that easyJet had been growing over the past few years and they continue to grow at Luton.

“They are the biggest customer and we value the relationship hugely. They are a very successful airline who are continuing to grow and work with us.

“We’ve got some very big carriers who operate at Luton. They are all growing, they are all good, well-run businesses.

“We are one of the key European bases for general aviation. Luton is a very popular destination, our transport links into central London are very good.”