RYANAIR BOSS MICHAEL O’Leary was hit in the face with two cream pies today while preparing to deliver a petition to the European Commission president in Brussels.
O’Leary can be seen standing next to a cardboard cutout of European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen while taking signs from a box which read: “Protect overflights. Keep EU skies open. 1.5 million signatures.”
O’Leary was holding a one-man protest outside the European Commission against repeated air traffic controllers’ strikes in the EU and the impact this is having on Ryanair.
“Welcome to Belgium,” says one protestor as she smears the pie in O’Leary’s face, which was captured on video by Belgian news channels LN24 and RTL Info.
A second says “stop the pollution” as she also plants a pie on O’Leary.
O’Leary can be heard saying “well done” as he removes his jacket and the cream pie from his face.
The Ryanair boss quips “I love cream cakes, they’re my favourite” before pivoting into talking about the petition.
“We’re here this morning to submit our latest passenger petition to our close friend Ursula von der Leyen.
“We submitted the first petition about six months ago when we had only one million signatories, we now have 1.5 million signatories who have now signed our petition calling on von der Leyen and the European Commission to take action to protect overflights during the strikes.”
O’Leary then tastes some of the pie still on his face, saying: “This is a delicious cake.”
The activists’ pie protest came as Ryanair pilots in Belgium announced a new strike on September 14 and 15 – their fourth stoppage in two months – over pay and working conditions.
-With additional reporting from AFP
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