Ryanair’s boss received mixed messages after discussing controversial plans to charge for using toilets on his aircrafts. Watch the interview below:
The clip of Michael O’Leary being grilled on RTÉ One's The Late Late Show back in 2012 has resurfaced and gone viral on TikTok, with the video garnering over 2 million views since it was uploaded a day ago.
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To begin, the presenter asks him: “Did you really want to charge to use toilets on Ryanair planes?”
Michael replies: “Yes, but not because I want the money – we give the money away to charity. I want to get rid of the two toilets at the back of the planes so I can add six extra seats.
“With six extra seats I can lower everyone’s airfare for by another 5 percent, all year round.”
We didn’t think Ryanair flights could get any cheaper!
Nevertheless, TikTok commenters were divided by the proposal, as one wrote: “He’s 100 percent correct...everyone looks at price first.”
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Another person joked: “My bladder could never.”
The interviewer proceeded to probe O’Leary with further allegations, as he said: “Did you want to make some passengers stand up on planes to fit more people in. How safe is that?”
“Very safe,” the airline boss replied, “Funnily enough, what we wanted to do was take out the last ten rows of seats.
“We’d have a standing cabin and a seated cabin. The seats would be 25 euros and the standing cabin would be one euro. I guarantee you we will fill the standing cabin first.”
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The prospect of a one euro flight clearly excited some TikTok users, with one describing it as a ‘genius’ move.
Another person added: “I’d be taking the standing every time for a one euro ticket.”
“Honestly, making travel more accessible is amazing,” a third person said.
However, not everyone was thrilled by the proposal.
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One person wrote: “Imagine standing up for 2 hours just to save 20 quid.”
“I would literally rather spend 200 percent more and use any other airline rather than Ryanair,” added a second.
Earlier this month, Ryanair found themselves in hot water after a couple claimed they were taken to the wrong country at the fault of the aircraft company.
Simon Forster and Emma Schofield were supposed to take a lovely Christmas trip to Copenhagen in Denmark, but ended up landing near to Paris in France, hundreds of miles away.
Ryanair says the responsibility of getting onto the right plane lies with passengers, and added that there are ‘touchpoints’ along the way that should help passengers check that, telling them the destination of the flight.
Abbi Murray