Ryanair is ready to provide governments with flights to repatriate migrants, the low-cost carrier’s CEO Michael O’Leary told reporters on Tuesday.
“We have no issue in principle” with the idea, O’Leary said at a press conference near Brussels Airport where he was launching a Ryanair campaign to support voting in the June European election.
“If European governments are legally deporting illegal arrivals, and we can provide help [to] them … [we] will do so,” he said.
Asked if he didn’t fear potential reputational damage to his firm in connection with such deportations, O’Leary answered: “What?… If European governments are properly deporting illegal arrivals … to a country like Albania, why is [there] a reputational risk for Ryanair?
“It’s the governments who are organizing the flight,” he added.
Migration is controversial in Ireland, where Ryanair is based, as well as in the U.K., whose parliament just approved tougher rules on the movement of people. Many migrants now prefer to use Northern Ireland to enter Ireland proper, to escape deportation to Rwanda under a policy promised by U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
“We cannot go to Rwanda because we cannot fly that far,” O’Leary said. Ryanair can, however, fly to countries such as Albania, he added, noting that the Balkan country and the U.K. have struck a deal on illegal migration, and underlining that Albania is a safe country.
“We are happy to fly those flights if that’s the case,” he said.
Albania’s parliament recently approved a further deal with Italy to build centers to house migrants rescued from the Mediterranean Sea.
Via Politico
