Ryanair - Brexit Special

Ryanair - Brexit Special

The UK is currently in the grip of its referendum campaign to decide if it will stay or leave (“Brexit”) the European Union. One prominent supporter of Britain remaining in the European Union is Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary.

Ryanair has allowed ‘Remain’ campaigners including UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osbourne to use the airline’s planes as a backdrop during a press event at London’s Stansted Airport. However the airline also used the referendum campaign to its advantage by running a seat sale and capitalising around the controversy it generated.

On 19 May, the airline launched a “Brexit Special” on its website and online channels, supported by a press campaign. Anyone wanting to fly home to the UK on 23 June (the day of the referendum) would be able to do so for just €19.99. Though ostensibly aimed at British expats coming home to vote, anyone could of course take advantage of the offer , with the result that this promotion actually boosted the airline’s UK inbound routes. Vote Leave, the official campaign to take Britain out of the EU, duly took the bait and started complaining about Ryanair offering unfair inducements to British expats to come home and vote. Campaign director Dominic Cummings said Ryanair’s campaign was the equivalent to a pub next to a polling station offering voters cheap drinks , and reported the matter to the police.

In true Ryanair style, the airline turned this to its advantage, extending the sale and running graphics on its social media channels under the headline “the fares they tried to ban!”. Needless to say, the stunt ended up getting an enormous amount of national and international press coverage, and so many more people ended up hearing about the sale than would otherwise have been the case.