Ryanair CEO O’Leary: Less than 5% Likely to Pay for Starlink Wi-Fi
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Jan 21 2026
0mins
Source: stocktwits
- Low Willingness to Pay: Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary stated that less than 5% of passengers are expected to pay for Starlink Wi-Fi services, indicating a reluctance among customers to incur additional costs, which could impact the airline's future revenue growth.
- Heavy Cost Burden: Should Ryanair opt to equip its fleet with Starlink hardware, it would face an increase in fuel and installation costs ranging from $200 million to $250 million, placing financial strain on the company and limiting its ability to invest in technological upgrades.
- Investment Opportunities Limited: O’Leary expressed openness to investment from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk but highlighted that non-European citizens cannot own a majority stake in European airlines, which restricts potential external investors and affects the company's capital structure and growth strategy.
- Market Reaction Tepid: Ryanair shares fell 0.2% in pre-market trading on Wednesday, reflecting market concerns about the company's future profitability, while retail sentiment on Stocktwits trended in the 'extremely bullish' territory, indicating a divergence in investor perceptions of the company's potential.
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Analyst Views on RYAAY
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About RYAAY
Ryanair Holdings PLC is the leading airline group by passenger numbers in Europe. The company employs a low-cost no-frills model to offer low fares to leisure customers on short-haul intra-European routes. In 2020, the most recent pre-pandemic fiscal year, the company carried 149 million passengers, utilizing a fleet of 467 Boeing 737 aircraft across its 1,800 routes. To keep costs low the company serves predominantly lower-cost secondary airports. The company generated sales of EUR 8.5 billion in fiscal 2020.
About the author

Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
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