LAST UPDATE | 21 Jan

RYANAIR CEO MICHAEL O’Leary has said the airline has seen an uptick in bookings since he got into a war of words with Tesla boss Elon Musk over the cost of installing wi-fi antennae on planes. 

The row between the two CEOs was sparked after Ryanair said it would not be using Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service on its fleet because it would increase drag and therefore fuel costs.

The claim didn’t go down well with Musk, who said O’Leary was “misinformed”. The public spat has now seen each CEO call the other an “idiot”. 

“I don’t quite know why he took such umbrage over it,” O’Leary said at a press conference today, while describing Starlink as “a very good system”.

O’Leary said he would be happy to use Starlink if Musk’s company took on the costs of installation and what he estimated would be an increase of €150 million to €250 million per year Ryanair’s fuel budget.  

Overall though, O’Leary said that the public row between himself and Musk, and other PR controversies, were good for business. 

“We want to thank him (Musk) sincerely,” he said, claiming that bookings had risen since the row began. 

“We love these PR spats,” he said, adding that he was “very happy to continue the controversy”. 

“It’s all good fun.”

Asked by The Journal if Ryanair would continue to use its X account, given he called it and social media in general “a cesspit”, O’Leary said it would because it’s a good way to promote the company, especially to young people in the case of TikTok. 

Musk has threatened to buy Ryanair, even though EU law makes it impossible. 

EU regulations (Article 4) require that either an EU member state or a national of an EU member state hold the majority of shares in an airline if it is to operate within Europe.

But O’Leary said today that Ryanair welcomes all shareholders, including Musk. 

“I would certainly encourage him to invest in Ryanair.” 

Passenger cap

While much of today’s press conference was taken up by comments on Musk and Starlink, it had originally been called so that O’Leary could once again level criticism at the government about a long-standing complaint: Dublin Airport’s passenger cap.

“We believe the cap is illegal”, O’Leary said, citing the EU’s right to freedom of movement. 

O’Leary labelled Micheál Martin a “do-nothing Taoiseach” because the government has so far not followed through on a commitment made to scrap the passenger cap.

The Taoiseach’s travel schedule over the last year was also cited by O’Leary as evidence of Martin shirking the work of governing. 

He said Martin had been on a “world tour” of late and that he was currently “dossing in Davos” while attending the World Economic Forum in the Swiss town.