Europe

Ryanair CEO calls EU chief Ursula von der Leyen 'useless' and demands tax on US and Chinese airlines

Read full article at source ↗

Based on a feed excerpt; full article content has not been acquired. Source evidence retrieved 20/10/2026, 08:28:24 UTC.

Briefings

Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary criticized EU chief Ursula von der Leyen as 'useless' and demanded US and Chinese airlines pay their share of the EU's carbon tax. This action occurred as Ryanair cuts a million seats from Belgium this winter to avoid steep fare rises in 2027. The article is a preprint from October 2026, with limited coverage of the broader context.

Key points

• Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary explicitly called EU chief Ursula von der Leyen 'useless' in a statement regarding the EU's carbon tax.
• Ryanair is cutting a million seats from Belgium this winter as part of its strategy to avoid steep fare rises in 2027.

Context

Ryanair is cutting a million seats from Belgium this winter as Michael O'Leary warns of steep fare rises in 2027 and demands foreign airlines pay their share of the EU's carbon tax. This move reflects ongoing tensions between Ryanair's operational needs and EU environmental regulations.

Limitations

Evidence is limited to a single sentence from a preprint dated October 2026. Specific details on the carbon tax amount, the exact nature of the 'share' demanded, or the broader context of the EU's climate policy are not provided.

Generated by Bittrees-hosted qwen35-2b sha256:aaf42c8b7c3c on 20/10/2026, 08:36:51 UTC. Based on publisher-provided feed evidence; may not cover the full original article. Check the source for details.

View archived briefing on IPFS
bafybeif7yoxfbpvhauvftpredq5c465ko6lujmzve7w2vvge4m6eqrmwne