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Ryanair CEO hits out at Sajid Javid over Flybe funding

The news comes just a day after advisers were said to have been flown in by ministers to discuss Flybe's rescue plans

A Flybe flight departs from Manchester Airport

The boss of Ryanair has launched a fresh attack on Sajid Javid over the rescue package for

In an open letter to the chancellor signed by Ryanair's CEO Michael O'Leary and shared on Ryanair's official Twitter account, it accuses him of making "inaccurate and seriously misleading" statements about Flybe's finances.

Five points were made by Mr O'Leary in the letter, including one statement in which he claims the short-term tax deferral granted to Flybe known as a "Time to Pay" was a "breach of state aid rules".

The Ryanair boss also hit out at Flybe's owners - led by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic - by asking Mr Javid: "If these billionaire shareholders are not willing to put their hand in their own deep pockets to bail out the loss-making Flybe, then why is your government and HMRC giving them a bail-out?"

Flybe

In another excerpt from the letter, Mr O'leary queried Mr Javid's assertion that Flybe was "a viable business with genuine short-term difficulties", describing it as "a business that has lurched from failure to failure

The latest blow from Mr O'Leary comes nearly a fortnight after he threatened to sue the Government over its involvement in a financial support package aimed at Flybe.

Earlier this month, Press Association reported that British Airways and Aer Lingus owner International Airlines Group had filed a complaint with the European Commission, claiming the deal breaches state aid rules and gives the struggling airline an unfair advantage.

 

Meanwhile, it was reported that Willie Walsh, the chief executive of International Airlines Group which owns British Airways, had written to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps questioning the deal.