Chief executive Michael O’Leary, one of Ireland’s wealthiest businessmen, was outraged when he discovered that the commission’s travel agency was unable to book him on a Ryanair flight after inviting him to speak at a conference in Brussels.
Wasting money
According to a report in The Daily Telegraph, Mr O’Leary was instead offered a ticket with rival company, Aer Lingus. He has since made an official complaint to the independent watchdog that oversees EC spending, while Ryanair lawyers have also approached the European Court of Auditors.
Mr O’Leary told the Telegraph: ‘The point we will be making is, here you have a bloated commission wasting money hand over fist while it’s preaching the value of austerity to the Irish, the Greeks, The Spanish and everybody else … There will be action including an action for damages against them.’
Reimbursement
A spokeswoman for the EC stated that there was no policy in place covering low-cost carriers, but Ryanair is not used because the EC’s agency – American Express Business Travel – could not make reservations owing to a booking system issue. She added that European officials were free to book their own low-cost flights and then claim reimbursement.
Wasting money
According to a report in The Daily Telegraph, Mr O’Leary was instead offered a ticket with rival company, Aer Lingus. He has since made an official complaint to the independent watchdog that oversees EC spending, while Ryanair lawyers have also approached the European Court of Auditors.
Mr O’Leary told the Telegraph: ‘The point we will be making is, here you have a bloated commission wasting money hand over fist while it’s preaching the value of austerity to the Irish, the Greeks, The Spanish and everybody else … There will be action including an action for damages against them.’
Reimbursement
A spokeswoman for the EC stated that there was no policy in place covering low-cost carriers, but Ryanair is not used because the EC’s agency – American Express Business Travel – could not make reservations owing to a booking system issue. She added that European officials were free to book their own low-cost flights and then claim reimbursement.
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