id="attachment_13800" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 263px">
class="size-full wp-image-13800" title="Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannu " src="http://news.cheapflights.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Stelios.jpg" alt="Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannu " width="263" height="191" />
class="wp-caption-text">Stelios hits back at 'despicable' O'Leary
The longstanding rivalry between
href="http://www.cheapflights.co.uk/airlines/easyJet/">easyJet and
href="http://www.cheapflights.co.uk/airlines/Ryanair/">Ryanair has taken a dramatic new twist with news that easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannu is to sue Michael O’Leary.
Ryanair’s boss has been named in a libel writ following his portrayal of Mr Haji-Ioannu as a Pinocchio figure who refuses to publish punctuality statistics for easyJet
href="http://www.cheapflights.co.uk">flights.
Mr O’Leary had attempted to defuse the spat last week in typically blasé style, challenging his counterpart to a ‘Chariots of Fire’ style race around Trafalgar Square.
But the easyJet boss was not amused by the proposition and has now drafted in libel lawyers Schillings to file a writ over the “baseless and grossly defamatory” statements.
The dispute centres on a Ryanair advertisement which features a doctored photograph of Mr Haji-Ioannu with an elongated nose in the style of children’s character Pinnochio.
Spelling out the allegedly defamatory inference, Schillings helpfully explained that Pinnochio “is known in the public’s mind for the trait that his nose grows when he tells a lie”.
When juxtaposed with a speech bubble carrying the words “punctuality is a top priority,” the law firm contends, the advert amounted to a libellous slur against Mr Haji-Ioannu.
“It was about time someone was willing to spend the money to take this arrogant man to court for his despicable behaviour,” Sir Stelios commented after announcing his decision to sue Mr O’Leary. “He called me a liar, I am not a liar. That is libellous, and I will seek substantial damages.”
For his part, however, the Ryanair boss seems totally unperturbed by the legal spat.
Speaking to journalists last week, he side-stepped questions about the lawsuit by criticising Mr Haji-Ioannu for not responding to his Chariots of Fire proposition. Mr O’Leary opined: “If he’s too scared to run then why doesn’t he accept our challenge to a bout of sumo wrestling instead?”
EasyJet’s defamation suit comes just days after it instructed lawyers to launch separate legal proceedings over repeated claims by Ryanair that it is a “high-fare airline”.
The rivalry between the two carriers last came to a head in 2003, when Mr O’Leary drove a World War II tank up to easyJet’s headquarters at
href="http://www.cheapflights.co.uk/airports/Luton/">Luton Airport. At the time easyJet, which rarely responds to Ryanair’s taunts, said Mr O’Leary was guilty of “childish, inane, constant babbling”.
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