Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary says he hopes Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. will wake up what he described as “complacent f--king liberal governments in Europe” who he says “tax the sh-t out of air travel” as the airline boss warned of lower traffic growth in 2026.
In a foul-mouthed call with analysts on Monday morning, O’Leary lamented European travel taxation policies and directed his ire at center-left governments across the continent, suggesting they could learn a thing or two from President Trump.
O’Leary’s namechecking of Trump was prompted by a question about how the 47th President may affect aviation policy in Europe. His attention was focused on Germany, a country that was the bane of Ryanair in 2024 as it tackled high taxes and competition, ahead of elections next month.
“Germany can stagnate away under the current policies of the failed government, or we would hope that the new government will follow some kind of growth-minded policies,” O’Leary said.
“If nothing else, Trump might at least wake up some of these complacent fucking liberal governments in Europe who think we’ll just tax the shit out of air travel, and, you know, all will be well.”
In October, Ryanair announced it was significantly reducing its services in Germany, with 1.8 million fewer seats this Summer than in 2024.
The group said it was canceling its operations in Dortmund, Dresden, and Leipzig, while summer flights to Hamburg in 2025 would be 60% lower than the previous year. The airline had previously announced plans to cut its Berlin services by 20%.
Ryanair’s brand CEO, Eddie Wilson, blamed Lufthansa’s “high-price monopoly” and high taxes for making Germany by far the worst-performing air travel market in Europe at the time of the announcement.
Germany is set to go to the polls in February, with its economy languishing after two consecutive years of negative economic growth and its coalition government in turmoil.
Rising populism across Europe has increased support for the far-right Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) party, which is currently second in polls among voters. However, the group stands virtually no chance of forming a government owing to other parties refusing to work with it.
O’Leary said Ryanair was focusing its expansion on countries that were reducing aviation taxes, including Sweden, Poland, and Spain.
He was keen to criticize other European governments that could be perceived to have a liberal slant. He criticized the center-left U.K. Labour government’s chancellor, Rachel Reeves, who he said “will find some new way to raise f--king taxes on air travel, rabbiting on about a new runway at Heathrow in about 50 years’ time.”
The Ryanair boss summarized: “Get the hell out of the aviation industry and let us get on with delivering growth and competitiveness without having to wait for another runway in southeast the UK, which will never happen in my lifetime.”
O’Leary also said he had been disappointed at the rate at which Boeing had moved to restart manufacturing following the conclusion of strikes in November, which has led to delayed aircraft deliveries to the airline. Boeing delays forced Ryanair to reduce its traffic growth outlook for the 2026 financial year to 3%.
