Irish restaurant will get its personal again on Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary by including sneaky additional fees to his invoice for ‘additional legroom’

A restaurant has caused a storm online after hosting the CEO of Ryanair – and adding a few additional charges to his bill.

Luvida Restaurant in Navan, Ireland, welcomed multi-millionaire Michael O’Leary, 64, for a meal on Saturday.

To mock Ryanair’s billing style, the restaurant, which serves ‘contemporary’ foods, added numerous additional charges to O’Leary’s bill.

The budget-friendly airline is renowned for adding extra charges, including baggage and check-in fees.

Considering this, the restaurant piled on supplementary charges, including €7.95 (£6.25) for ‘extra leg space’, €9.95 (£8.32) for ‘priority booth seating’ and €19.95 (£16.69) for a ‘quiet area reservation’.

O’Leary appeared to find humour in the situation and paid the €142.30 (£119.04) bill, which also included the cost of a bottle of Pinot Giorgio, battered prawns, mushroom on toast, and a seabass main.

‘Thank you to Michael O’Leary for choosing to dine with us tonight,’ the restaurant said on Instagram.

It added: ‘It was a pleasure to host you. Hope you don’t mind us adding some additional charges to your bill for extra leg space, priority booth seating, and quiet area reservation.’

Luvida Restaurant in Navan, Ireland, charged Michael O’Leary for a string of additional costs in a practical joke (Michael is seen with a waitress at the restaurant)

The CEO also posed for a photograph with a Luvida Restaurant waitress after enjoying his meal.

Viewers took to X to share their thoughts on the post, with one saying: ‘He has a good sense of humour!’

A second added: ‘Love it … I’m sure Michael saw the funny side of it.’

A third joked: ‘Everybody clapped when the plates of food came to the table.’

Another said: ‘Hope they gave him a window seat.’

The practical joke is timely because Ryanair passengers will now need to take care to dodge a new extra fee when they fly with the budget carrier.

The new charge is set to hit travellers who check-in late at the airport.

Passengers will now have to be at the check-in desk at least 40 minutes before their Ryanair flight departs or risk a €100/£100 fee.

The Ryanair CEO paid the cost for ‘extra leg space’, ‘priority booth seating’, and a ‘quiet area reservation’

Viewers took to the comment section to share their thoughts on the joke – and many were entertained

Ryanair states on its website that this new fine is called a ‘missed departure fee’.

The rule will also apply to passengers who miss their flight and try to book the next one.

The airline stated: ‘Customers who arrive at the ticket desk up to an hour after their flight departure to move to the next available flight’ will also be charged.

However, travellers will likely want to check-in for their flight online anyway.

Even if you do get to the airport before the 40 minute deadline, you’ll still be charged €55/£55 if you check in at the airport instead of online.

That fee is slightly less at €30/£30 if you’re flying to and from Spain.

Online check-in closes two hours before the flight, so passengers will need to make that deadline if they want to swerve any extra fees altogether.

Ryanair also has fees for selecting a seat, bringing an oversized bag to the airport, and bringing unusual items such as ski or golf equipment on the flight.

There’s no fee to check in for a flight online, which passengers can do on the Ryanair website or the airline’s app.

If one hasn’t paid to select a seat, they can check in online from 24 hours before their flight departs.

Passengers need to check in online at least two hours before their flight is scheduled to depart if they want to avoid a fee.