Ryanair Boss Thanks Musk for the Bump in Bookings

Elon Musk can poll X users all he wants, but Ryanair's chief says the Tesla billionaire won't be buying his airline anytime soon. At a Wednesday press conference, Michael O'Leary dismissed Musk's online musing about acquiring Ryanair, saying a takeover would be blocked by European rules regarding foreign ownership of EU carriers. But O'Leary invited Musk to feel free to invest in the airline, quipping it would be "a significantly better investment than the financial returns he's earning on X."

On the financial front, O'Leary noted the spat—which erupted after O'Leary rejected the idea of enabling Musk's Starlink satellite internet on Ryanair's more than 600 planes—has been great for the bottom line. The AP reports the airline leaned into the fact that both men have called each other idiots in recent days to launch an "idiot" seat sale that's being promoted with a caricature of Musk. The "Twitter tantrum" led to a "wonderful boost in publicity which has seen our bookings rise significantly," said O'Leary. "They're up about 2% or 3% in the last five days, which, given our volumes, is a very significant boost."

Reuters notes Ryanair's share price hasn't really budged, indicating investors aren't putting much stock in Musk's takeover threat. As for Musk's "accusation that I'm a chimp," the Daily Beast reports O'Leary added Wednesday that "I think it's somewhat unfair on the chimp community, but chimp-chump, as long as it increases Ryanair bookings through January, February and March, it's all good fun and entertainment."