Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair has launched a promotional “Big Idiot seat sale” amid a public dispute between the airline’s CEO Michael O’Leary and entrepreneur Ilon Musk on social network X. The promotion is of a marketing nature and applies to the carrier’s European route network, rather than a “global” sale.
The occasion for the wrangle was O’Leary’s statements that Ryanair would not install Starlink satellite internet on planes because of the extra costs and “fuel drag” from the antennas. According to the Ryanair chief, the combined installation and operating costs could be as high as $200-250 million per year. Musk responded by calling O’Leary an “idiot” and launched a poll about a hypothetical purchase of Ryanair, to which O’Leary publicly responded in the same style.
As part of the campaign, Ryanair offered 100,000 tickets priced from €16.99 one-way for flights in the coming months, saying it was using the surge of attention surrounding the conflict to promote the sale.
O’Leary also emphasized that the scenario of a “takeover” of the carrier by a non-EU resident is practically unrealizable: the EU has rules that require control of EU-registered airlines to remain with European owners (in practice, non-EU ownership is limited), and Ryanair has separate procedures in place to control and limit the rights of non-EU shareholders.
