Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary took to the streets of London this morning to declare that he and his airline would campaign strongly for a ‘Yes’ vote in the British referendum on EU membership.

Posing with one of his hallmark posters and two Ryanair flight attendants, O’Leary made his Europhile sympathies very clear and said the airline will campaign actively for the UK to stay in the EU.

“As the UK’s largest airline, Ryanair is absolutely clear that the UK economy and its future growth prospects are stronger as a member of the European Union than they are outside of the EU," O'Leary said.

“Leaving Europe won’t save the UK money or red tape because, like Norway, the UK will still have to contribute to Europe and obey its rules if it wants to continue to trade freely with Europe — so it’s clear that voters should vote Yes to Europe and Yes to the reformed Europe that David Cameron has delivered. Ryanair, our people and I hope the vast majority of our customers, will all work together over to help deliver a resounding Yes vote on June 23.”

Success Story

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O’Leary’s regard for the EU is based on what it has done for him and Ryanair rather than on ideology or any grand notions, it’s clear from the company’s statement: “One of Europe’s great success stories was airline deregulation in the late 1980s, which broke the high fare cartel of Europe’s flag carrier airlines and fostered the rise of low fare airlines, led by Ryanair, which have transformed air travel, tourism, economic growth and jobs.”

And he tempered the love, pointing out that “Ryanair remains critical of both UK and EU failure to promote low fare tourism growth in areas such as the UK travel tax and the continuing indecision over additional runway capacity in the south-east,” and that the EU needs further reform.

“The best way to achieve this reform is for the UK to lead from within the EU and not from outside, where the UK will have no influence over decision making.”