Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has compared other airlines to “rapists” in a rant over fares, saying it is “absolutely” appropriate to use such language. The remarks came ahead of his airline’s annual general meeting in Dublin on Thursday.
Comments made ahead of AGM
The billionaire businessman claimed rising air travel prices at other airlines would see passengers switch to Ryanair. Speaking to reporters at the company’s headquarters, he said: “You might find some people will choose not to fly with Ryanair – but you know they’ll be overrun with the people abandoning Aer Lingus, Lufthansa, BA, and others desperate to get to Ryanair's low fares because they can’t afford to fly with the high-fare rapists around Europe.”
He later repeated the “high-fare rapists” comments. Asked whether this was appropriate language, Mr O’Leary told reporters: “Absolutely.”
Reaction to criticism
Challenged on whether it was offensive to victims of rape and sexual assault, he said he would “happily offend” the airlines mentioned. Further pressed on whether the language was trivialising rape, he said: “That’s what I call high-fare airlines like Lufthansa, BA, and others.”
The remarks are part of a broader promotional push by Ryanair as it seeks to position itself as the low-cost option amid rising fares across the European airline industry.
