Ryanair’s AGM was disrupted by a climate change activist in Dublin this morning.
A topless protester, calling himself Rob Mac, approached the top of the meeting in Radisson Hotel, Dublin Airport, to where Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary was on the podium.
The protest was organised by a group calling itself Plane Mad who say they are campaigning for the responsible use of aviation. The group claims aviation will negate all other reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland if current growth continues.
A Ryanair spokeswoman played down the incident saying the protester left the meeting with incident.
In July Mr O’Leary criticised a decision by the European Parliament to include aviation in its CO2 Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). He said it could eventually cost consumers an additional €50 on every flight.
Mr O’Leary said the ruling, which MEPs described as an “enormous stride” in safeguarding the environment against greenhouse gases, would not reduce emissions, but instead “further damage European airlines” at a time when oil costs some $140 a barrel.
“These clowns in the European Parliament seem determined to destroy the European airline industry with these discriminatory taxation penalties,” Mr O’Leary said in July
“Aviation is not the cause of, nor the solution to, CO2 emissions or global warming. Increasing taxation on air travel will have no effect on either emissions or global warming, it will just raise the cost of air travel for ordinary European consumers.”
Ryanair told today’s meeting it would break even in the current year if oil remains at $100 a barrel, and would return to profitability next year if the price continues to fall.