RYANAIR chief executive Michael O’Leary got paid nearly €3.26million last year – a three per cent increase on the year before equalling a whopping €8,931 a day.
The airline’s annual report for 2017 shows that the outspoken boss saw his earnings increase by almost €100,000 on the figure for 2016.
Cork native O’Leary now sits top of the pay table for European airline bosses after Ryanair enjoyed a record year with after-tax profits of €1.3billion.
The increase in his salary comes from an increase to his performance-related bonus, which rose to €950,000 from €855,000 the previous fiscal year.
O’Leary owns a 3.8 per cent stake in Ryanair – worth an estimated €836million based on the current price.
Last month, the 56-year-old CEO sold some of his shares for an eye-watering €72million.
“The Company does not provide the CEO with any pension contributions or other benefits which is in keeping with the low cost ethos of the airline,” Ryanair said in their report.
Mr O’Leary became deputy chief executive of Ryanair in 1991 and was promoted to chief executive in January 1994.
His current contract with the low-budget Irish airline runs until September 2019 after he signed a new five-year deal in 2014.
In the report, Mr O’Leary said: "Last year, despite difficult trading conditions caused by a series of security events in European cities and the sharp decline in Sterling following the Brexit referendum, we delivered another strong performance.
“We have raised our traffic target from 180million to 200million annually by 2024 which will see us create a further 8,000 jobs directly in Ryanair, while sustaining more than 150,000 jobs indirectly at airports all over Europe.
"However, we remain worried at the continuing uncertainty which prevails over the terms of the U.K.’s departure from the EU in March 2019."
He added: "If a ‘Hard Brexit’ results in a period of disruption to flights from April 2019 onwards, then we will avail of this opportunity to speed up our growth across Continental Europe."
Mr O'Leary added that Ryanair opened 10 new bases and grew its fleet to almost 430 aircraft over the last fiscal year.
The airline created 1,500 new jobs as its workforce grew to 13,000, while it also opened a third tech hub in Madrid.
