Ryanair chairman Michael O'Leary hit with pies in Belgium

Ryanair chairman Michael O’Leary is splattered on his head and face with pies by Belgian eco activists – but jokes ‘the cream is better in Ireland’

• O’Leary, 62, was in the Belgian capital speaking to media when he was targeted

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary was splattered in the face with a pair of cream pies by eco-activists as he prepared to speak to the media in Brussels earlier today.

O’Leary, 62, was in the Belgian capital to speak at a press conference and deliver a petition to protect overflights in Europe amid the news Ryanair pilots based in Belgium had called a strike.

He was delivering an interview – alongside a cardboard cut-out of European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen – when a black-clad woman ran up and smashed the pie into his face.

O’Leary reeled away and ducked his head down to avoid a potential blow – giving a second woman the opportunity to run up behind him and deliver a second spatter of cream down the back of his neck.

‘Welcome to Belgium!’, the activists cheered as they ran off, before O’Leary sportingly replied: ‘Well done!’

The ordeal didn’t appear to trouble the Ryanair boss too much. Speaking to media after the incident, he jokingly declared: ‘I have never had such a warm welcome.

‘Unfortunately it was environmentalists and the cream was artificial. I invite passengers to come to Ireland where the cream is better!’

Activists throw cream pie on Ryanair CEO Micheal O’Leary

Activists throw cream pie on Ryanair CEO Micheal O’Leary as he is on his way to deliver the ‘Protect Overflights: Keep EU Skies Open’ petition to EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen’s office in Brussels, Belgium, 07 September 2023

‘Welcome to Belgium!’, the activists cheered as the ran off, before O’Leary sportingly replied, ‘well done’

Ryanair CEO Micheal O’Leary wipes cream pie from his face after activists threw it at him while he is on his way to deliver the ‘Protect Overflights: Keep EU Skies Open’ petition to EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen’s office in Brussels

Ryanair pilots based in Belgium’s Charleroi airport announced they would strike on September 14-15 – dates chosen specifically to coincide with a general meeting of Ryanair shareholders.

The pilots are demanding ‘an immediate end to the blackmail carried out by the company to correlate the negotiation of a new collective work agreement with the abandonment of all individual legal procedures in progress’. 

They demand ‘strict compliance with Belgian law, the payment of arrears and the opening of negotiations without prerequisites’.

The drama is the latest twist in a long-running saga that saw Ryanair go toe-to-toe with the European Commission in a battle to protect overflights from being cancelled.

In May, O’Leary delivered another petition, signed by more than 1.1 million passengers, to von der Leyen’s office, calling for the European Commission to protect overflights from being adversely impacted when air traffic controllers go on strike.

The airline argues it had been forced to ‘disproportionately cancel’ thousands of overflights from Germany, Spain, Italy, the UK and Ireland, blaming European aviation authorities for prioritising short-haul and domestic flights during strike times while leaving international travellers in the lurch.

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary (pictured in 2022) says he has still not been told by UK air traffic control firm NATS what caused the system-wide crash on Monday

The EC said several European states already had protections in place to prevent overflight cancellations, but Ryanair wants the same protections to be enforced in all EU member states.

‘Europe’s passengers are sick and tired of suffering unnecessary overflight cancellations during ATC strikes. The European Commission must now act upon the petition of more than 1.1 million EU citizens and insist that all states protect overflights during national ATC strikes as is already done in Greece, Italy and Spain,’ O’Leary’s petition read.

Last month, O’Leary hit out at national air traffic control (ATC) provider National Air Traffic Services (NATS) for failing to provide answers as to what crippled its system for several hours and forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights.

NATS, which boasts on its website that it is the ‘leading provider of air traffic control services’ in the UK, admitted that the bug was caused by ‘flight data’ but has not elaborated on who was responsible.

‘It’s not acceptable that UK NATS simply allow their computer systems to be taken down and everybody’s flights get cancelled,’ O’Leary said. 

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