Ryanair threatened to move planes outside Britain due to 'foolish' government 0 12

He believes that the increase in the tax charged per passenger contradicts the current government's strategy to stimulate economic growth.

"Countries like Sweden, Hungary, Italy, and Croatia are abolishing environmental taxes, while there are backward ones – like Germany, France, and Rachel Reeves here in Britain, who, oddly enough, talk about a desire for growth but at the same time increase taxes on air travel – on an island, on the periphery of Europe," O'Leary complained.

According to him, after the tax increase, it will account for about a third of the average Ryanair ticket price.

"This is absurd. For a family of four, it becomes unaffordable," O'Leary said. O'Leary also mentioned that Ryanair reached out to Minister Reeves with a proposal to abolish the tax for regional airports outside London to stimulate economic activity outside the capital, but received no response.

"We wrote to Rachel Reeves when she was just appointed and said that we could ensure a 50% increase in traffic, not in London, but in the regions of the UK where they really need growth in those red constituencies – in Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Bristol," he said.

"Just abolish APD outside London. You know, London is overcrowded, London can pay APD, but abolish it outside London. It will cost them about £2 billion from their budget, but they will get that back through additional consumer spending, VAT from additional visitors, from consumer spending within a year. No response," O'Leary complained, calling the British government "hopeless."

"We got a silly response from Number 11 (the Treasury office), which said: 'Oh, a £2 increase in APD is only 1% of the average ticket price.' Well, I don’t know where they buy their tickets, but our average ticket price is £45, so a £2 increase is a 5% increase. They can’t even do the math... Foolish," O'Leary stated.

If Britain raises the tax, the CEO of Ryanair said the company would consider relocating its planes to countries that ease environmental taxes. Among potential options, he mentioned Sweden, Hungary, and Italy.