O’Leary in attack on BA and tourist
board
Michael Glackin Business News Editor
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RYANAIR chief executive Michael O’Leary fired a fresh broadside at British Airways yesterday, locking horns once again with Europe’s largest airline.
At the same time, O’Leary also renewed his assault on VisitScotland, saying it was run by "50-year-old, beer-bellied men" who have been "doing the same old tired act for 40 years".
O’Leary, who was in Edinburgh to promote the launch of Ryanair’s service to Dublin, claimed VisitScotland and its forerunner, the Scottish Tourist Board, had been too close to BA in the past and insisted that because BA offered few direct flights to Scotland from European destinations, had done little to boost Scottish tourism.
He said: "Until now getting to Scotland from Europe cost hundreds of pounds and you had to go to Heathrow first. We’re changing that and bringing new visitors to this country."
BA refused to discuss O’Leary’s comments in detail. But a spokesperson said: "Mr O’Leary’s comments fail to recognise the vital role BA plays in Scotland, particularly within the tourist industry.
"We have provided air links between Scotland and the rest of the world for more than half a century.
"We operate 300 flights a day from and within Scotland, and carry more than four million passengers in and out of Scotland each year. Does Ryanair do this?"
O’Leary’s latest salvo in the war of words with BA comes in the wake of last year’s row between the two, when Ryanair successfully defended a court action brought by BA after the no-frills carrier ran a series of advertisement which described BA as "Expensive BA****ds".
Continuing his attack on VisitScotland, O’Leary again criticised the tourist board for failing to promote any of the budget carriers abroad. He said: "We’ve been trying to get VisitScotland to get up off its arse for years."
He added: "They sell Scotland with pictures of old castles and kilts and stone walls, but there is more to Scotland than that."
He added: "Europeans all say that Scotland is a great destination, but expensive to get to. We’re offering direct flights at low fares, but VisitScotland continues to be geared towards high-budget travellers.
"VisitScotland has got 50-year-old blokes with beer-bellies running around trying to sell Scotland at posh dinners.
"Keep the picture of the castles, but put the telephone number of all the budget carriers that fly direct - not just us, but easyJet and Go as well - on their advertisements."
A spokesperson for VisitScotland dismissed O’Leary’s comments and said it had spent £400,000 promoting Ryanair over the last year, highlighting airlines services, while it had spent only £50,000 promoting BA over the same period.
The spokesperson said: "It is very disappointing that he is unable to give credit where credit is due."
She added: "We’ve also got a young, vibrant team here. O’Leary has never been to our offices to visit. It would be fantastic if Ryanair gave the same deals it offers to people to leave Scotland to some of the Europeans so that they can travel to Scotland. We’re hoping to meet with him soon, but clearly he has been misinformed."