O'Leary makes most of Musk row to promote seat sale

Ryanair have launched what they are calling a big “idiot” sale to make the most of an online row between chief executive Michael O’Leary and Elon Musk, boss of X.

At a press conference in Dublin this morning, Mr O’Leary said: “I think his statement that putting aerials on top of aircraft would not have any fuel drag penalty was a stupid and idiotic statement. He should stick to what he knows.

"Clearly, he’s good with rockets, certainly seems to be good at making electric cars, but knows nothing about the aerodynamics of an aircraft.

“But nevertheless, I think it’s generated a lot of free publicity for him and his X platform and for Ryanair and our seat sales.”

Mr O'Leary said he takes "no insult at being called an idiot or a twat - as anybody with teenage children would know, you're frequently called an idiot and a twat at home. I don't need to go outside to be insulted.

"But he's wrong on the fuel drag.

"We noticed he was holding a poll about should he launch a bid for Ryanair - we're a publicly owned company he's free to do so at any time, but non-European citizens cannot own a majority of European airlines.

"But if he wants to invest in Ryanair, we would think it's a very good investment, certainly a significantly better investment than the financial returns he's earning on X, and we want to thank him sincerely for the additional publicity."