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Ryanair has long been accused of mistreating passengers. Now it's turning its wrath on journalists

When Evening Herald journalist Aoife Anderson was asked to review Ryanair's new softsided carry-on bag, produced by Samsonite and specially designed to comply with the airline's strict weight and size limits, she probably thought nothing of it.

Anderson's subsequent review in the Irish newspaper was all but a paragon of fairness, praising the bag as "the perfect accessory" for minimalist travellers and saying its €79 (£66) price-tag "could be worth every cent". Her write-up was a million miles off being an attack on the product, although she did question its size, adding: "You'll need to be a ruthless packer ... it won't fit more than a toothbrush, one change of clothes and a towel."

Sadly for Anderson that flirtation with criticism was deemed a step too far by Ryanair, whose response was to humiliate the journalist publicly before effectively blackmailing her into a retraction.

Continuing a newfound trend of launching attacks on individual journalists, the airline issued a statement calling on Anderson to "see the error of her ways" and re-test the product. If the Evening Herald correspondent acquiesced â€" and in the process admitted "just how wrong she was" by cramming more into the bag â€" Ryanair would donate €1,000 to the charity of her choice. Spokesman Stephen McNamara rounded off the press release in typically classy style with a personal insult, suggesting that Anderson's expectations had been so high she must need a "Himalayan Sherpa" to carry her bags when abroad.

An unenviable dilemma for the Evening Herald journalist, then, who must choose between either publicly discrediting her own writing, or standing in the way of a substantial donation to charity. In many ways, though, Anderson may consider she got off lightly.

Last April, Telegraph journalist Bryony Gordon woke up to the rather bemusing news that Ryanair was seeking possession of her flat and contents, after she nonchalantly wagered them against anyone who could defend the airline's customer service record. This time a clearly tongue-in-cheek McNamara published a selection of recent letters from happy passengers, quipping: "Bryony overlooked the fact that Ryanair is the world's favourite airline ... We look forward to receiving the keys to Bryony's flat and contents in due course."

Few observers would deny the obvious wit and creativity of Ryanair's press office in delving out such side-swipes, and there is certainly no suggestion of legal action to make good on its threats. But the tactic of singling out individual hacks betrays a deeper arrogance and hypocrisy in the way this airline chooses to court the media.

Let's be clear first of all that these were not publicity stunts in the same vein as Ryanair's proposal to introduce a fat tax, or to charge for the use of on-board toilets. Whereas those hare-brained schemes attracted massive attention in the national press, the airline's hit-jobs on Anderson and Gordon earned just a smattering of coverage in the blogosphere. If free publicity was the aim, Ryanair's efforts were wasted.

If, on the other hand, its press team was tasked with sending a clear message to the media that Ryanair will punish anyone who dares criticise it â€" a warning siren that lies somewhere between pompous sabre-rattling and brutish aggression â€" then it seems to have had rather more success. Intimidation is hardly a new tactic for Ryanair. Chief executive Michael O'Leary has long revelled in dishing out abuse to everyone from environmentalists ("lying wankers") to travel agents ("fuckers") to airport operators ("overcharging rapists"). This month, he called his own passengers "bastards" for claiming compensation over volcanic ash, pledging to haul up to 20 of them before the courts.

As part of its bid to silence criticism the airline has also become notoriously trigger-happy with legal threats, often in the form of a demand that £1,000 be donated to charity on pain of a lawsuit. Private Eye had the will and resources to fight such aggression head-on; few regional newspapers can follow its lead.

Where Ryanair can litigate, it readily does so. But the airline knows full well that the legal defence of fair comment protects remarks such as Anderson's and Gordon's from libel action. Though both journalists were guilty of hyperbole, the courts have been clear that even "exaggerated, obstinate or prejudiced" views enjoy protection. Indeed the irony that Fair Comment safeguards honestly-held remarks â€" as opposed to objectively fair ones â€" is an intricacy of media law that has not escaped O'Leary. Quite to the contrary, he uses it to devastating effect when attacking rivals such as easyJet, whom he has likened to everyone from Saddam Hussein's information ministry to Pinocchio.

Some might suggest his fondness for exaggeration has even rubbed off on spokesman McNamara, who last year opined: "The whole world knows O'Leary is a kind and gentle, caring and thoughtful, sensitive and saintly human being widely beloved by all."

But it is a rhetorical device which the airline seems less keen on others using. Just as Ryanair hypocritically filed a complaint to the advertising watchdog over easyJet's disparaging advertising campaign (albeit a complaint that was upheld) â€" despite lampooning its rival repeatedly in its own promotional material â€" the airline now hypocritically attacks journalists for deploying the very same creative licence that it relies on so mercilessly. The double standards are clear: we (Ryanair) can say whatever we want and attack whomever we want. You (the media / rival airlines / passengers / travel industry personnel / government officials) may say nothing critical, and the second you do we will either take you to the courts or publicly humiliate you.

Whether any of this bothers thrifty passengers is another matter entirely. Most will probably be inclined to keep their heads down and continue enjoying the rock-bottom fares that have opened up air travel to the masses. But while sympathy for journalists caught in the cross-fire will be low, Ryanair's customers should remember that they too run the risk of being targeted. Those passengers afflicted by volcanic ash will know this only too well, following the airline's shameless attempt to duck out of paying compensation under EU regulation 261.

Ryanair's ethos is summed up best by O'Leary himself: "We will attack whoever is out there. We have spent the past couple of years attacking British Airways. Attacking BA is like kicking a dead sheep â€" there is not much point anymore. We need to have someone to attack. It is always helpful to have an enemy out there."

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