BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Environmental activists attacked Michael O’Leary, chief executive of Ryanair, outside the European Union headquarters in Brussels on Thursday to protest against the carbon emissions of Europe’s largest airline in terms of number of passengers.
“Stop the pollution,” shouted a protester dressed in black after throwing a pie in the face of Michael O’Leary who was about to pose with a cardboard cutout of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
A second protester hit him in the back of the head with another pie.
Michael O’Leary then jokingly commented on this action. “My only complaint was that the cream was artificial and not very tasty,” he said at a press conference.
Brussels think tank Transport & Environment (T&E) estimates that Ryanair emitted 13.3 million tonnes of CO2 in 2022, making it the most polluting airline.
Michael O’Leary was in Brussels to present a petition calling for flyovers to be protected from air traffic controller strikes, particularly in France, to avoid disruption to travel.
(Written by Conor Humphries; with contributions from Julia Payne; French version Augustin Turpin, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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