O’leary says ending cheap holidays will force re-think

RYANAIR yesterday threatened to ground its UK jets after Brexit in a bid to persuade voters to “rethink”.

Chief executive Michael O’leary said he wants to “create an opportunity” by making people realise they are “no longer going to have cheap holidays”.

He told an audience of airline leaders in Brussels: “I think it’s in our interests – not for a long period of time – that the aircraft [in the UK] are grounded.

“It’s only when you get to that stage where you’re going to persuade the average British voter you were lied to in the entire Brexit debate.

“You were promised you could leave the EU and everything would stay the same. You can leave the EU – that’s your choice – but everything will fundamentally change.

“When you begin to realise you’re no longer going to have cheap holidays in Portugal or Spain or Italy, you’ve got to drive to Scotland or get a ferry to Ireland as your only holiday options, maybe we’ll begin to rethink the Brexit debate.

“They were misled and I think we have to create an opportunity.”

Easyjet chief executive Johan Lundgren, who was on stage alongside Mr O’leary, interrupted him to say: “If you start grounding your planes, I’m flying.” Carsten Spohr, the boss of German carrier Lufthansa, added: “In theory, if we could use this industry to prove to the British how wrong the decision was, that might be a good thing.”

The single market for aviation, created in the 1990s, means there are no commercial restrictions for airlines flying within the EU.

Mr O’leary has repeatedly warned airlines will be forced to cancel post-brexit services from next March if no agreement is reached in the Brexit negotiations by September, as schedules are planned about six months in advance.