Skift Take
In an interview, Travelport CEO Gordon Wilson strikes an optimistic tone for his company and for the negotiations at large over the fate of Britain's relationship with the European Union. We'll see if his confidence will be borne out by events.
Travelport, a Langley, UK-based travel commerce company, sees a stable forecast for its business in 2019, despite uncertainties about Britain's planned move next year toward formally departing the European Union.
One of the potential perils of Brexit is that the European Union might attempt to strip British airlines of some flying rights to impair their ability to compete across the economic bloc.
Travelport continues to earn a majority of its revenue from the distribution of airline tickets and other content to online travel agencies and travel management companies. That unit saw its revenue increase 9 percent to $638 million in the second quarter of 2018. But the picture might differ a year from now if Brexit, slated for March 2019, goes awry.
In an interview Thursday with Skift, CEO Gordon Wilson waved away Brexit concerns for his company, which has a market capitalization of $2.4 billion.
"The whole nation of the UK is frustrated by the lack of progress and certainty about Brexit," said Wilson.
"But that said, if you go back in history, any deal done with anyone and the EU ends up being a last-minute, eleventh-hour, compromise. Such is
