Ryanair's Michael O'Leary apologises 'unreservedly' after calling some airlines 'high-fare rapists'

RYANAIR CHIEF MICHAEL O’Leary has issued an apology for previously comparing competitor airlines to “rapists”.

He had initially refused to apologise after he was accused of trivialising rape but in a video message shared by Virgin Media News, he acknowledged that the remarks caused “considerable upset and offence”.

Last week, he told reporters at the company’s headquarters: “You might find some people will choose not to fly with Ryanair.

“But you know they’ll be overrun with the people abandoning Aer Lingus, Lufthansa, BA, and others desperate to get to Ryanair’s low fares because they can’t afford to fly with the high-fare rapists around Europe.”

He later repeated the “high-fare rapists” comments.

He then said rape was a “terrible crime” but rejected the assertion he was trivialising rape.

In a video message today, O’Leary said he was “quizzed by the press if I was trivialising rape” after he made the remarks.