Ryanair today promoted cheap flights as it shrugged off a critical undercover exposé of its operations by a television documentary.
It placed advertisements headlined "An apology from Ryanair" and "Sorry" in British newspapers after Channel 4 aired a programme featuring reporters who filmed secretly while posing as cabin crew at the carrier's main London base for five months.
Ryanair said it was not apologising for allegations the documentary made about its level of safety standards or service but wanted to say sorry to competing airlines because it was stealing their customers.
Channel 4 aired its documentary last night as part of its Dispatchesseries, featuring secret footage by two reporters who trained and worked as cabin crew at Stansted airport.
In the footage, staff complained about fatigue, lapses in security checks and dirty planes. Ryanair reiterated it rejected the allegations.
"They ( Dispatches) had nothing at the end of the day. People saw it for what it was. They tried to dramatise it as well, I think, which didn't work in their favour," deputy chief Executive Michael Cawley said today.
Ryanair published correspondence on its website last week outlining allegations made in the documentary. It said the allegations had been passed onto aviation regulatory authorities.
