Wetherspoons’ Sir Tim Martin tells Ryanair boss to ‘chill out and buy me pint or two’

EXCLUSIVE: Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary has accused ‘Spoons boss Sir Tim Martin of not having to pick up the pieces from drunk and disorderly behaviour, but now the pub mogul has hit back telling him to ‘chill out’

Wetherspoons boss Sir Tim Martin has demanded Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary “chills out” and buys him a couple of pints. The two men have been at loggerheads over calls to limit the number of drinks airline passengers can have before boarding a flight.

Mr O’Leary has accused Sir Tim of not having to pick up the pieces from drunk and disorderly behaviour, but now the pub mogul has hit back telling him to “chill out”.

Speaking to the Daily Star, Sir Tim said: “I don’t think it’s sensible, I think there’s too many rules and regulations now.

“I think airports are pretty well tightly run, they’re licensed premises, you can lose your license if you misbehave with your customer’s booze – there’s plenty of controls already, so I’ve said, ‘Michael chill out,’ let’s have a chat about this.

“You can buy me a pint of Abbot – you can buy me two pints of Abbot, I won’t drink any more!”

Sir Tim’s cheeky dig comes off the back of saying he finds it “weird” how people have pints early in the morning before hopping on a plane.

“Our airport pubs sell over 50% of trade as food, they’re by far our biggest sellers of coffee and soft drinks,” he said. “Some people – and I must admit I find it rather weird – like to have a pint or two at 6am before they hop on a plane, I must admit, it’s not my scene.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had an incident reported when someone has been in our pub, downed a few pints and misbehaved on a plane.

“It may have happened, but I think it’s too big brother to limit to two pints. I don’t know how you check it out, etcetera.

“I think there’s quite a problem with people taking spirits onto planes and so on which they won’t have bought from pubs, so I just think it has to be managed otherwise and most of the behaviour is good.”

Sir Tim admitted that he finds the whole spat “quite funny, because I was on a programme over breakfast with Michael O’Leary, and he called me a ‘little Englander’.

“When I was young I used to support Derry City football team and I used to go to school there and I told Michael O’Leary that and even that didn’t keep him quiet,” he added, before bursting out laughing.

Ryanair has been contacted for comment, but the has said it is upping its intention to sue disorderly passengers who casue issues on their flights.

Speaking in January, a spokesperson for the airline said: “We fail to understand why passengers at airports are not limited to two alcoholic drinks (using their boarding pass in exactly the same way they limit duty free sales), as this would result in safer and better passenger behaviour on board aircraft, and a safer travel experience for passengers and crews all over Europe.

“During flight delays, passengers are consuming excess alcohol at airports without any limit on purchase or consumption,” it added.

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