Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has called a Spanish minister a “crazy communist” in a row over a £150million hand luggage fine.
Mr O’Leary, who is the founder and president of the budget airline, is reported to have used the term to describe social rights minister Pablo Bustinduy at a press conference in Brussels.
The Irish executive, quoted by the Efe news agency, said: “He believes passengers can carry all the luggage they want. And no, they cannot.”
O’Leary was talking about fines totalling £149.8m (€179m) imposed by Madrid on low-cost airlines Ryanair, Vueling, EasyJet, Norwegian, and Volotea, in part for charging for hand luggage.
Mr Bustinduy told Spanish daily el Diario some large companies have become accustomed to dictating market rules or being above regulations or laws.
He said practices such as charging for cabin hand luggage are something the European Court of Justice ruled 10 years ago could not be done.
The minister added: “Low-cost companies started these practices four or five years ago and since then, ticket prices have not stopped rising.”
Mr Bustinduy vowed to continue defending consumers, saying: “I am the Minister of Consumer Affairs of the Government of Spain and my duty is to defend consumer rights in this country above the interests of any multinational or any millionaire magnate no matter how powerful.
“This Government will defend the interests of Spanish citizens. No pressure, blackmail or insult will make me cease in this effort to defend people against the powerful.”
Bustinduy told Spanish TV fines against airlines are based on a European Court ruling, adding: “I don’t think they are crazy communists.”
He said: “No insult will intimidate me. They have the right to appeal to Justice and to the European Union, but we are applying the law with full rigour.”
The row comes amid an ongoing dispute between Ryanair and Aena, the Spanish airport operator.
Aena’s president Maurici Lucena described Ryanair’s decision to cut flights in Spain next summer as “outright blackmail”, claiming airport operator fees are too high.
He said: “The Spanish airport system cannot be tailored to Ryanair. It cannot be done.”
Ryanair announced earlier it would cut summer flights to Jerez and Valladolid and reduce them at Vigo, Santiago, Zaragoza, Asturias and Santander due to Aena’s “excessive fees”.
The fees are charged for using runways, walkways or airport security services and amount to £8.66 (€10.35) per passenger, according to el Diario.
