- Ryanair agreed a four-year contract extension with Michael O’Leary to 2032.
- Basic salary increases to €1.8m a year from FY28.
- Annual bonus caps at 50pc of basic pay.
- Share options link to profit and share price targets.
- Record traffic reached 208 million passengers.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has received a 50pc increase in basic pay as part of his new four-year contract that runs to 2032. The airline agreed the extension last Friday and detailed the terms in its 2026 annual report published today. Mr O’Leary’s basic salary rises from €1.2m to €1.8m a year from FY28 with no further increases over the contract term.
The contract includes a capped annual bonus at no more than 50pc of basic pay. It also grants a one-off option for Mr O’Leary to purchase 10 million shares at a strike price of €26.70/$65.00 if group profit after tax exceeds €4 billion in any year up to FY32 or if the share price exceeds €42 for 28 consecutive days. The remuneration committee recognised the salary increase but noted it equates to about 4.5pc a year over the combined nine-year term of current and future contracts. Ryanair reported record traffic of 208 million passengers and profits of €2.26 billion in the year to the end of March.
Mr O’Leary’s total pay package stood at €3.83m for the 12 months to the end of March, unchanged from the previous year, including €600,000 bonus and a €2.03m non-cash share option charge. Irish revenues rose 18pc to €896.6m.
Michael O’Leary shared “from FY30 onward, when we start taking up 50 aircraft annually, we expect to deliver traffic growth of 15 million guests per annum, leaving us well placed to hit our target of 300 million passengers by FY34.”
