Ryanair boss hands Elon Musk remarkable offer after X CEO threatens to buy airline amid spat

The dispute broke out between the pair when Mr O'Leary was questioned about whether Ryanair would follow carriers such as Lufthansa and British Airways in adopting Mr Musk's Starlink satellite internet system across its 650-strong fleet.

The Ryanair CEO rejected the proposal, arguing that mounting antennas would lead to additional fuel drag, potentially adding up to €250million to the airline's €5.5billion annual fuel costs.

Mr Musk called for Mr O'Leary to be sacked, branding him an "idiot" and a "r******d t**t" in a series of posts to his social media platform.

Speaking at a press conference in Dublin this morning, Mr O'Leary said: "Elon Musk apparently took great umbrage and resulted to insulting me on X over the weekend calling me an 'idiot'.

"I think yesterday he also rounded on me and called me I think a r******d t**t". All I would say to Elon Musk is he would have to join the back of a very, very, long queue of people who already think I'm a r******d t**t", including my four teenage children."

Ryanair hit back at Mr Musk's comments by launching a "Big Idiot Seat Sale" featuring a mock-up of both men on a plinth reading "big idiots".

The promotion offered 100,000 seats from £16.99, available "only for Elon Musk and any other 'idiots' on X".

Mr O'Leary added: "Later on this morning we are going around to the X offices in Cumberland House to give Elon Musk a free Ryanair ticket to thank him for the wonderful boost in publicity which has seen our bookings rise significantly.

"They are up about two or three per cent in the last five days - which given our volumes is a very significant boost - so thank you to Mr Musk."

Mr Musk asked his followers whether he should purchase the airline last week, writing to X: "Should I buy Ryanair and put someone whose actual name is Ryan in charge?"

Mr O'Leary welcomed potential investment from the world's richest man, saying: "If he wants to invest in Ryanair we would think it was a very good investment, certainly a significantly better investment than the financial returns he is earning on X and we want to thank him sincerely for the additional publicity."

He went on to describe X as a "cesspit", but said he would not take the Ryanair account off the social media platform.

Media regulator Ofcom has launched an investigation into X’s AI chatbot, Grok, following concerns it was allowing users to manipulate images of women and children to sexualise them.

The airline chief told reporters: "I do believe social media, X in particular, is a cesspit.

“I am not a member, never subscribed, don’t participate in it. But I find my personal objection to social media is anonymity.”

He added: “Am I happy for Ryanair to be on it? Yes, I am. We have to be out there, whether it’s on Facebook or Instagram or God help us, we’re on TikTok.

“We have one of the biggest corporate accounts on TikTok, which I think, personally, is the greatest amount of rubbish I’ve ever seen. Talking airplanes, is this what the world is coming to?”