Ryanair has hit back at The Telegraph journalist Bryony Gordon’s recent article, in which she has written “there are so many reasons to dislike Ryanair”.

Published: 13 Apr 2010

Ryanair has hit back at The Telegraph journalist Bryony Gordon’s recent article, in which she has written “there are so many reasons to dislike Ryanair”.

Gordon wrote: “I am willing to bet my flat and its contents that nobody has ever said the words 'Ryanair', 'marvellous' and 'service' in the same sentence.”

One para of her article was as follows: “There are so many reasons to dislike Ryanair that there is barely space for them in this column, or indeed this newspaper. But let’s try to list them, starting with the announcement this week that it plans to strip out most of the loos to make way for extra seats, and then charge us a Euro to spend a penny in the remaining onboard cesspit. Then there are the costs for those of us who have the audacity to check-in a bag, hiked by £5 each way just in time for the summer.”

Ryanair says it is “seeking possession of The Telegraph journalist Bryony Gordon’s ‘flat and contents’ after she wagered them (in an article dated 7th Apr), against anyone who could show that Ryanair passengers enjoyed their flights”.

Ryanair stated that it “receives thousands of letters each year from satisfied customers and publishes a small selection of these satisfaction letters on its website at http://www.ryanair.com/ie/about/customer-feedback . Ryanair has provided Bryony with the details of these web-pages and is now seeking the keys to her ‘flat’.”

Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara said, “Ryanair is now seeking possession of the ‘flat and contents’ of Telegraph journalist Bryony Gordon since her claims that Ryanair passengers have never complimented our industry leading service are clearly false. Unfortunately for Bryony she overlooked the fact that Ryanair is the world’s favourite airline and provides the best on-time, baggage and flight completion performance of any major European airline, while also offering Europe’s guaranteed lowest fares.”

Meanwhile, a posting on a blog, TheMediaBlog.co.uk, pointed out that there is not even a single sentence which includes the words 'Ryanair', 'marvellous' and 'service' in the same sentence. “(It)...rather supports Bryony’s point - on which she was really quite specific,” it said.