US tech mogul Elon Musk has hinted at buying Ryanair amid a public quarrel with the low-cost airline's boss Michael O'Leary.

Musk late on Monday launched a poll on social media platform X — which he owns — asking his followers whether he should buy Ryanair and "restore Ryan as their rightful ruler."

The vote saw over 900,000 participants, with a majority clicking "Yes".

There was no immediate response from Ryanair regarding the poll.

Ryanair declines to use Starlink

Musk has floated the idea of buying Europe's largest airline Ryanair for a few days now.

The billionaire's suggestion comes after he locked horns with the Irish airline's chief executive O'Leary over the use of wifi on flights.

In an interview with Irish radio Newstalk, O'Leary refused to use Musk's Starlink satellite internet system to equip his planes with wifi.

The airline boss estimated that it would cost nearly $250 million (€213 million) a year as the aerial antenna would drag on the aircraft, burning more fuel.

Ryanair's passengers would also not want to pay for internet usage, O'Leary added.

"What Elon Musk knows about flights and drag would be zero ... I frankly wouldn't pay any attention to anything Elon Musk puts on that cesspit of his called X," he said.

Is Musk serious about buying Ryanair?

The situation soon evolved into a public spat, with the two men trading insults.

The Irish CEO labelled Musk an idiot, while the Tesla chief was quick to hit back, describing O'Leary as "a real idiot".

Musk, who is known to make provocative rather than serious bids on his social network, even called for O'Leary's firing.

But his takeover of X, formerly called Twitter, started with a surprise offer to buy it.

Ryanair's market capitalization is estimated at nearly $35 billion.

Edited by: Zac Crellin