RYANAIR AND Michael O’Leary have apologised to EastJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou for suggesting he was a liar, the Bloomberg reports. They also agreed to pay some £50,000 (€59,000) to Sir Haji-Ioannou, as well as his legal costs. He said the money would be donated to charity.

The allegations against Sir Haji-Ioannou were withdrawn by solicitors today at a hearing in the High Court in London, after settling the legal action between the parties.

Ryanair and Mr O’Leary apologised in a half-page ad in the Telegraph today for branding Mr Haji-Ionnou as “Easyjet’s Mr Late Again”. Mr Haji-Ionnou said he had taken the action “to protect my reputation. I am not a liar and that statement was libellous.”

Yesterday, Ryanair was reprimanded for “misleading” advertisements by a British advertising standards body. The ruling was made after EasyJet complained about two Ryanair ads relating to one-way fares which it alleged could be “likely to mislead” customers.