Ryanair prints ad apologising to Sir Stelios

Low cost airline Ryanair, have taken out prominent ads in the Daily Telegraph and the Guardian newspapers apologising for previous adverts, which referred to EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou as “EasyJet’s- Mr Late Again.”

In the past, the two budget airlines have used adverts knocking each other, but today, Ryanair have been forced to issue a grovelling apology. The advert, which has been funded by Ryanair uses large format printing  stating the airline’s “Retraction and apology to Sir Stelios Haji-Iannou.”

The Guardian ran the advert with a picture of the Easyjet boss, with the statement from Ryanair’s chief executive Michael O’Leary written underneath.

Ryanair’s ‘libellous’ print adverts, which were previously printed in the papers, had depicted Sir Stelios as a Pinocchio figure, implying he was withholding information about his airline’s flight delays.

The final line of the full page advert, which apologises ‘unreservedly’ for the remarks, said that Sir Stelios could not be held personally responsible for the airlines decision not to publish their updates on time performance.

Ryanair have agreed to pay Sir Stelios’ damages and legal costs to settle the libel claim. The airline and Mr O’Leary have also stated that they will not publish the advert again.

Sir Stelios told Fresh Business Thinking: “It is not very often that someone as arrogant and as powerful as O’Leary is forced to apologise to someone else in public and in writing. I took this legal action to protect my reputation. I am not a liar and that statement was libellous.”

The damages are expected to be donated to Sir Stelio’s charity foundation.