Elon Musk has said he could buy Ryanair amid an ongoing public spat with the budget airline’s boss Michael O’Leary.
The two have clashed numerous times over the past few days, resulting in Mr Musk asking his X followers if he should buy Ryanair and “restore Ryan as their rightful ruler”.
Ryanair responded by announcing a “big idiot seat sale”, which it says is for the billionaire tech mogul and any other “idiots” on Mr Musk’s social media platform.
Here is everything you need to know about why the two outspoken chief executives are trading insults, from what has been said to why it began in the first place.
What is the row about?
The spat appears to have stemmed from Mr O’Leary ruling out equipping Ryanair jets with Mr Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service, after rivals Lufthansa and Scandinavian airline SAS announced a deal to install Starlink on its aircraft.
In an interview with Irish radio station Newstalk on 16 January, Mr O’Leary said he would not install the technology because he believed that passengers on Ryanair’s short-haul flights would “not be willing to pay” to use it.
He added it would cost the company about €200-250m per-year to use the tech and add 1-2% to their fuel bill due to the two aerials required on each flight, which would impact the aerodynamics of the aircraft.
He told the radio station he would “pay no attention whatsoever” to Mr Musk, labelling him an “idiot”.
“Musk knows even less about airline ownership rules than he does about aircraft aerodynamics,” he said.
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What has happened since?
The Ryanair X account – which is known for its posts which mock criticisms of the airline and weighs in on current events – has since goaded Mr Musk over the issue of wifi.
Unsurprisingly, Mr Musk has not ignored the…
