Brexit would mean the end of cheap flights and holidays, says Easyjet chief

The chief executive of low-cost airline Easyjet has warned that Britain leaving the EU would cause the price of flights and holidays to soar.

Dame Carolyn McCall said it was thanks to the EU that there has been a fall in air fares across Europe over the past two decades and before this, travel was "reserved for the elite".

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Writing in the Sunday Times, McCall said: "Britain led the way in this liberalisation, but it was the EU that gave airlines the freedom to fly across the continent. That led to a dramatic fall in fares – around a 40% cut – and the number of routes increasing by 180%. The number of people who flew to and from the UK was 101m in 1995. By 2014 it had almost doubled to 199m."

According to the Press Association, Peter Long, former boss of TUI, also says that close cooperation with other EU states is essential to "protect the security of our holidaymakers".

When dozens of holidaymakers were killed in the Tunisia terror attack last year, he says it gave him "many first-hand experiences of seeing how European governments, through their foreign offices, collaborate and work together in a crisis".

Long added that Brexit would cause the value of the pound to slump, pushing up the cost of holidays.