Ryanair Boss: "Recession Would End Environmental Nonsense Among Chattering Classes"

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When we reported that British Airways was seeing its profits squeezed by the twin threat of rising oil prices and increased competition from rail, commenter Ecobore suspected it had more to do with the budget airlines than it did any shift to greener travel. Budget airline Ryanair, however, is certainly not to blame as CEO Micheael O’Leary has just announced that he expects to see a 50% cut in profits due to higher oil prices – this announcement comes hot on the heels of his deputy CEO suggesting environmental concerns may already be impacting demand for flights. O’Leary, however, continued his tradition of baiting environmentalists with his usual strong language, by saying that he would actually welcome a recession as it would put an end to efforts to curb air travel:

"We would welcome a good, deep, bloody recession for 12 to 18 months… [it would put an end to the] environmental bullshit among the chattering classes that has allowed Gordon Brown to double air passenger duty. We need a recession if we are going to see off some of this environmental nonsense."

We guess O’Leary won’t be taking Eurostar any time soon… ::The Guardian::via site visit::