Ryanair delivers a witty response in the Musk spat and capitalizes with a promotion.

(DUBLIN, 22nd) There’s a saying that “any publicity is good publicity,” and Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary appears to be leaning into it as his war of words with Tesla CEO and billionaire Elon Musk escalates.

O’Leary said Ryanair “likes” public spats that translate into bookings. The dispute began last week after the Irish low-cost carrier said it would not follow a growing number of airlines adopting Starlink—SpaceX’s satellite internet service—for onboard connectivity. Musk later criticized Ryanair publicly, called O’Leary an “idiot,” and even suggested he should buy the airline.

“Idiot sale” returns

Known for turning online controversy into marketing, Ryanair launched an “idiot sale” tied to the episode. The airline said the promotion drove up to four million clicks to its website, while bookings rose by 2% to 3% over the past few days—an increase O’Leary described as “quite significant” given Ryanair’s scale.

Last year, Ryanair became the first European airline to carry 200 million passengers in a single fiscal year. It operates across 36 countries and runs more than 3,600 flights per day.

Why Ryanair is holding back on Starlink

O’Leary said Ryanair’s leadership team has been discussing Starlink for more than a year. While he acknowledged the service performs well, he estimated the annual cost would range from US$200 million to US$250 million. That figure would include not only service fees but also higher fuel costs due to added aircraft weight from antennas.