MICHAEL O'LEARY stunned passengers on board a delayed Ryanair flight yesterday by announcing there would a free bar to celebrate his Grand National win.
The airline’s chief executive used the PA system to apologise for the 10-minute delay to flight FR477 from Liverpool to Dublin, revealing they were waiting for jockey Davy Russell.
The Irishman had earlier ridden O’Leary’s horse Tiger Roll – a 10/1 shot – to victory at the Aintree showpiece.
Apologising for the delay, O’Leary revealed there would be a free bar.
However the no-frills airline is well-known for making its money from optional extras – and O’Leary’s generous offer wasn’t without a catch.
Michael O’Leary bought us all a drink tonight after delaying the plane because he won the Grand National and had to collect the trophy!! pic.twitter.com/etfCbwIuFD
— Barry Orr (@BetfairBarry) 14 April 2018
“Today we won the Grand National,” said O’Leary, “so unusually on board this flight, there’s going to be a free bar, which I am personally going to pay for.”
However he quickly added: “But you’re all restricted to one free drink only.”
To be fair, with a flight time of less than an hour, it was unlikely passengers had time for more than one drink anyway.
O’Leary himself joked they would have to do circuit of Dublin to get the round in.
With the average cost of an alcoholic drink on a 180-seat Ryanair flight being £5, the gesture could cost the airline chief £900 – a drop in the Grand National winner’s £500,000-plus prize money.
With O’Leary’s horse Identity Thief also winning the Stayers Hurdle at Aintree, the airline boss had earlier joked that he’d have to pay a fortune in excess baggage fees to bring the two trophies home on his airline.
