This Ryanair Owner Michael O’Leary stated that the British government’s response to the Omicron Covid variant has been affected by “panic” and “idiots”. He accused travel restrictions of causing more passengers to fly on his airline this month than expected. One million less.
The CEO of Europe’s largest airline compares recent policies implemented in the UK Require PCR testing for all entrants In EU countries, most people who are fully vaccinated can travel more freely.
Speaking to the Guardian in Dublin on Wednesday, he said: “The panic is mainly confined to the UK and Ireland. Throughout the African continent, there is a more reasonable approach. “
Although Ryanair offers a one-way fare as low as £5, O’Leary said that “price incentives around Christmas will not have any impact”. He said that Christmas is fully booked, but the airline will deliver this year About 10 million per month instead of the predicted 11 million, and will cut about 10% of production capacity in January.
He said: “What really shocked us was the bookings made in and out of Ireland and the United Kingdom in the early weeks of December… the rest of the European continent was still traveling for business and leisure.”
O’Leary stated that the British economy is suffering from “bad political leadership”, adding: “It is the whole uncertainty that hinders bookings-if I travel abroad, if the government changes the rules within 24 hours, I might In trouble, even without Covid and vaccinated… Traveling can only have a certain degree of confidence.
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“The British people realize that the government is an idiot. You won’t rely on [Boris] Johnson or Grant Sharps, or Dominic Rab who cannot be added or subtracted-do you want your journey to depend on the intervention of those idiots? The answer is no. “
Before Increasing medical problems On Omicron, O’Leary declared: “What may happen is that we are all at Christmas, everyone calms down, the politicians rolled for two weeks, and everything settled down again. We will return in January and realize As South Africa has been telling us for four weeks, it will not flood your hospital.”
O’Leary stated that the airline had “no problem” in Europe: “They all saw an increase in the number of cases, but they did not experience the same 24-hour panic. I don’t know if Johnson tried to cover up his complaints. Downing Street Party is a mess, who knows. “
One Ryanair’s tweets spread widely This week caused controversy. O’Leary said he hadn’t read it before it was published, but added: “I’m very proud of it-the first thing I did yesterday was to read it. [to the social media team] Say well, let us do more. “
O’Leary expressed his support for the Prime Minister to use the vaccine passport when traveling, working and even shopping: “We recognize that you have the right to choose [to not be vaccinated], But if you want to be an independent-minded idiot, just sit at home. Why do people who work in hospitals treat you and put themselves at risk? “
Ryanair will delist from the London Stock Exchange on Friday to deter British shareholders as it tries to comply with EU ownership rules. O’Leary said it was “a necessity after Brexit” and added: “Brexit is a terrible economic disaster brought to you by those idiots… even the great Brexitists, [Simon] Wolfson at Next, Tim Nice-but-Dim Martin [of Wetherspoons] Want a visa now [for their staff]. ”
At the same time, O’Leary said that Ryanair will engage in further legal battles with online travel agencies this year. He claimed that third-party websites overcharged customers for fares, seat selection and baggage fees, and that their direct booking would be better protected: “They can only do this in the unsuspecting public, they click on Google search These paid advertisements take them to online travel agencies.
“If an airline carries out this shocking overcharge, they will be attacked by consumer protection agencies. This is not our nose-we still get reservations, we still get money. But our passengers are cheated .”
O’Leary stated that this approach is “part of the problem” because people complained about the slow refund rate when flights were cancelled during Covid, which prevented Ryanair from automatically reminding customers of flight changes or refunds because “money will eventually flow.” Into their stomachs”. Online agency. He estimated that approximately 10-15% of passengers booked through a third party.
