Ryanair disputes with EU regulators, warns passengers

In early July 2026 Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary launched a public attack on EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, demanding reforms to the EU’s air‑traffic‑control system after a French Senate report highlighted delays and rising costs. He called for fully staffed ATC providers and urged von der Leyen’s resignation to implement recommendations from Mario Draghi’s 2024 competitiveness report.

Two weeks later O'Leary broadened his criticism to the EU’s Entry‑Exit System (EES), announcing the airline would not wait for passengers who miss the boarding gate and urging travellers to arrive earlier to avoid long passport‑control queues.

On 24 July, in a podcast interview, he reiterated the hard‑line stance, blaming the fully‑live EES for queues of up to three hours at major Schengen airports and again attacking von der Leyen, calling her “stupid”. He condemned recent EU passenger‑rights and hand‑bag legislation as “regrettable”, warned that mandatory inclusion of a second cabin bag would raise fares dramatically, and suggested airports stop serving alcohol before noon, limit drinks to two, and tighten duty‑free sales.

A follow‑up comment on 26 July warned that the new EU hand‑bag rule could inflate displayed fares (e.g., a €20 base fare appearing as €80 with a larger bag) and cited a May incident where a Toulouse‑Stansted flight departed without about 150 passengers caught in EES queues. He also highlighted ongoing long queues at Athens, Lisbon and Madrid, reinforcing Ryanair’s stance that it will not wait for delayed passengers.