Ryanair CEO says he’d ‘happily’ offer Rwanda deportation flights

Ryanair Holdings Plc Chief Executive Officer Michael O’Leary weighed into the UK’s controversial plan to deport refugees to Rwanda, saying he would “happily” do the flights if he had the available aircraft.

“If it was the winter schedule and we had spare aircraft sitting around and if the government were looking for additional deportation flights or any other flights, we would happily quote for the business,” O’Leary said in an interview in London. 

The UK government hasn’t approached Ryanair to carry out the flights, O’Leary said. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has vowed to push ahead with a plan to send people seeking asylum in the UK to Rwanda despite opposition from courts and across both sides of the political spectrum. 

O’Leary, known for his controversial takes on issues from obesity to climate change, shrugged off warnings from the United Nation, which has said that airlines facilitating the removals could be complicit in violating international law. 

The Rwanda policy was first announced two years ago. Sunak has stuck with it despite opposition as his party slumps in the polls and as the number of asylum seekers reaching the UK by boat his a record.