RYANAIR HAS DROPPED a legal action it was pursuing against the Belfast Telegraph after it received an apology from the newspaper over a story it published about Ryanair’s fuel and safety policies.
However Ryanair said it was still pursuing legal action against Channel 4′s Dispatches programme, the Daily Mail Online and the Daily Mirror over the claims.
A Dispatches programme called “Ryanair: Secrets from the Cockpit” which aired last week broadcast claims by a group called The Ryanair Pilot Group – which is not recognised by Ryanair but which claims to represent over half of all its pilots – about the airline’s safety procedures.
Ryanair said it welcomed the apology issued by the Belfast Telegraph, which it said was received within hours of the legal proceedings being initiated.
“We welcome the Belfast Telegraph’s apology and its acceptance that Ryanair’s pilots are free to carry as much fuel as they wish, that Ryanair fully complies with EU fuel regulation, and the IAA’s confirmation that Ryanair’s safety is ‘on a par with the safest airlines in Europe’,” said Ryanair spokesperson Robin Kiely.
Kiely also hit out at the pilots who spoke to the Dispatches programme, saying the airline would “not allow any newspaper (or group of non-Ryanair pilots) to defame” the company’s safety record.