Michael O’Leary: Ryanair boss ‘pelted with pies’ by eco-activists outside European Commission HQ in Brussels

Eco activists pelted Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary with cream pies outside the European Commission’s headquarters in Brussels. The incident happened on Thursday morning (September 7) as Mr O’Leary was preparing to hand in a petition.

He was approached by two women who hit him in the face and back of the head with cream pies before walking off. One shouted: “Welcome to Belgium! Stop the pollution of your planes.”

Mr O’Leary responded by saying “well done” and attempting to wipe the cream off his face with a handkerchief. Ryanair’s account on X (formerly known as Twitter) made light of the incident.

One post stated: “Instead of buying cream pies, could have bought a flight from Belgium for the same price.” Another post said: “Shame it was soy-based cream, definitely not as tasty as the real stuff.”

Mr O’Leary was handing in a petition with 1.5 million signatures for European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. It calls for the European Union to stop preventing airlines from flying over countries – even if they are not landing in them – during local air traffic control (ATC) strikes.

This rule has caused widespread disruption to flights this year, particularly due to ATC strikes in France.