Ryanair threatens to ground UK flights after Brexit
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has reportedly suggested he wants to ground flights for a brief period after Britain leaves the European Union to make voters realise the impact of Brexit.
Speaking alongside other airline leaders at a conference in Brussels, O’Leary said he wanted to ‘create an opportunity’ by making people realise they are ‘no longer going to have cheap holidays’.
He said: "I think it’s in our interests – not for a long period of time – that the aircraft are grounded.
"It’s only when you get to that stage where you’re going to persuade the average British voter that you were lied to in the entire Brexit debate.
"You were promised you could leave the EU and everything would stay the same. The reality is you can leave the EU, yes that’s your choice, but everything will fundamentally change."
O’Leary said there would be a ‘real crisis’ as flights between the UK and the EU will be disrupted after Brexit.
"When you begin to realise that you’re no longer going to have cheap holidays in Portugal or Spain or Italy, you’ve got to drive to Scotland or get a ferry to Ireland as your only holiday options, maybe we’ll begin to rethink the whole Brexit debate.
"They were misled and I think we have to create an opportunity."
Lufthansa chief Carsten Sphor responded to O’Leary’s suggestion, saying: "In theory, if we could use this industry to prove to the British how wrong the decision was, that might be a good thing."
However, easyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren told O’Leary: "If you start grounding your planes, I’m flying."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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