Mr. Michael O'Leary:

The difficulty with research is that because of the safety requirements in aviation new technology is very difficult. Look at the difficulty Boeing had. The Max was grounded for two years. It is a great aircraft. We get nine more seats per aircraft but burn 16% less fuel. Our fuel bill next year will be €5 billion. If we can save 16% of €5 billion it is very significant.

I was in Brussels yesterday meeting with French MEPs who were assuring me that Airbus will produce a hydrogen engine by 2035. I had to explain to them that we are already ordering the aircraft for 2035. There is no hydrogen engine going to arrive here before 2040 or 2050. Technology is not the solution. If we could do two simple things it would help, the first of which is to fix air traffic control, ATC. Europe is talking about having a sustainable aviation fuel, SAF, mandate, or 2% of SAF usage in the next five years. If we fixed ATC we would save about 20% of fuel, never mind 2%.