Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary launched a sharp attack on Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente, calling him a dummy in a public video posted on X.
The dispute centers on Puente’s claims that Ryanair reduced flights in regional airports due to a lack of aircraft. O’Leary disputes this, using fleet data to argue that the airline is expanding. According to the company, Ryanair is set to operate 648 aircraft in the summer of 2026, which is 29 planes more than it will have in the summer of 2025.
The core of the conflict is cost. O’Leary insists that despite this growth, the new aircraft and routes are not going to regional Spain. He blames high airport charges and taxes for this decision. “Unfortunately, nothing of that growth of new aircraft, new routes or traffic goes to the regional Spain,” he stated.
While Puente has previously stated that Spain has some of the lowest aviation taxes in Europe, O’Leary disagrees. He cited Slovakia, Ireland, Sweden, and regional Italy as markets that are lowering or eliminating these taxes. “Until they are zero, Spain has high aviation taxes,” he wrote.
Direct Attack and Math Jabs
The rhetoric escalated in the final part of the video. O’Leary offered a blunt solution to the minister’s policies, suggesting Puente needs to learn basic arithmetic. He jokingly proposed sending a copy of “Basic Maths for Dummies” to the minister’s office. “The only way to deal with this is to send the Minister Puente a copy of Basic Maths for Dummies this week because Minister Puente is a dummy,” O’Leary said.
He also accused Puente of presiding over a decline in traffic within Spain while other European markets grow with Ryanair’s new services. The incident highlights the ongoing friction between the low-cost carrier and Spanish transport policy.
O’Leary noted that the airline is investing in long-haul routes, which may leave short-haul options thin in some areas. This shift reflects a broader trend where carriers prioritize high-margin international flights over domestic routes. Expats living in the UK might find this shift relevant as travel habits evolve, with many seeking new bucket list activities to do in the UK during these periods of reduced domestic frequency.
The video itself was edited using artificial intelligence, according to the reports, which adds another layer of technological intensity to the verbal exchange. O’Leary utilized these digital tools to present his fleet statistics directly to the public, framing the minister’s stance as mathematically flawed rather than merely politically incorrect. By emphasizing that the minister “does not know how to add or subtract,” the CEO attempted to delegitimize the official explanation for the route cuts.
Beyond the immediate dispute over taxes, the CEO characterized the situation as a presiding over a decline in traffic specifically within Spain. While traffic grows with Ryanair’s new aeronautics and routes elsewhere in Europe, the minister is allegedly overseeing a contraction in the domestic market. This distinction draws a line between the success of the carrier’s European expansion and the stagnation of its operations within Spain’s borders. The accusation of “anti-economic airport charges and fees” targets the financial infrastructure of regional travel, suggesting that without structural changes to these costs, the airline cannot sustain growth in those specific areas.