February 14, 2006

European low-cost airline Ryanair on Tuesday shrugged off a critical undercover expose of its operations by a television documentary, taking advantage of the publicity to promote new cheap flights.

It placed advertisements headlined "An apology from Ryanair" and "Sorry" in UK newspapers after Britain's Channel 4 aired a program 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 apologizing 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.

"It is going to make it very difficult for other airlines to sell seats," a Ryanair spokesman said while announcing another seat sale.

Ryanair is renowned for taking advantage of any kind of free publicity, good or bad. It attracted complaints last year after placing newspaper ads featuring images of former British prime minister Winston Churchill urging passengers to fight back against last July's London bombings and fly to London.

Channel 4 aired its documentary on Monday night as part of its Dispatches series, featuring secret footage by two reporters who trained and worked as cabin crew at London's 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 dramatize it as well, I think, which didn't work in their favor," Deputy Chief Executive Michael Cawley told reporters in Frankfurt on Tuesday.

"We are not particularly concerned about that."

Ryanair published correspondence on its web site last week outlining allegations made in the documentary. It said the allegations had been passed onto aviation regulatory authorities.

Dublin-based Ryanair, well known for its aggressive price-cutting and no-frills service, has offset rising fuel prices with cost cuts as it expands rapidly in Europe.

(Reuters)