Ryanair boss O'Leary defends 'high-fare rapists' airlines remarks

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary has refused to apologise to a rape crisis centre which criticised him for describing rival airlines as "high-fare rapists".

O'Leary doubled-down on his choice of words when asked about them at the time, and later refused to apologise when the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) wrote to him asking for apology, in a letter seen by the BBC.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told UK radio outlet LBC that victims of rape are "not going to be rushing to book tickets with him, let's be honest".

Asked by a reporter from the Press Association whether the language was appropriate, he said: "Absolutely."

Asked whether it would offend sexual assault victims, he said rape was "a terrible crime".

She said the DRCC had received calls from rape victims who were "upset and distressed because of what you said".

"I can't imagine you would ever use the term so flippantly again if you truly understood [what] it was like to survive rape," she wrote.

He added that as he had not "trivialised the heinous crime of rape" he would "not be issuing any apology or accepting your offer of training".

In 2004, he reportedly called the owners of Stansted Airport "a bunch of overcharging rapists", external in a row over airport charges.

In June, he said the airline would "reluctantly" stop charging parents to sit next to children after a watchdog investigation was opened, but insisted its previous policy complied with laws.

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