Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has called for the removal of the UK’s National Air Traffic Service (NATS) CEO Martin Rolfe, claiming the service is “chronically mismanaged”.
The demand came as part of a broader criticism of UK aviation policy, with O’Leary saying future growth of the airline in the UK is dependent on significant government reforms.
During the announcement of Ryanair’s Winter 2025 schedule for the UK, O’Leary said that the airline is on track to carry 60 million passengers in the UK in 2025.
He has submitted a plan to the Starmer government to expand this to 80 million over the next five years. However, he warned that this growth is contingent on the UK market becoming more competitive, threatening to re-allocate aircraft to other European locations if the necessary changes are not implemented.
O’Leary’s criticism of Rolfe was direct, citing what he described as a series of system failures.
“He should be sacked and somebody competent put in charge of UK NATS to deliver an efficient UK ATC service,” O’Leary said.
He dismissed Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander’s position that she cannot dismiss the NATS CEO, stating, “The Government owns 49% of NATS, and if they want to change the CEO, they have the power to do so.”
In addition to the call for NATS reform, O’Leary used the announcement to reiterate his demand for the government to abolish the Air Passenger Duty (APD) tax. He warned that if the tax is not scrapped, 29 new Boeing 737 aircraft due to be delivered this winter could be allocated to other European markets like Sweden, Hungary, and Albania, which he claimed have abolished similar “enviro taxes” and have been rewarded with rapid tourism and jobs growth.
The new routes announced by the airline include services from London Luton to Wroclaw, Poland, and from London Stansted to Lübeck and Münster in Germany, Murcia in Spain, and Trapani, Italy. Ryanair claimed its expansion from Stansted means it now offers more European destinations from that airport than Heathrow.
Photo: World Travel and Tourism Council (Creative Commons licence)
Michael O’Leary: NATS is “chronically mismanaged”.
