Michael O’Leary is not renowned among his passengers for eating humble pie – he would probably incur an add-on charge – but in a rare reversal yesterday morning the Ryanair CEO made a full-blown apology to easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou.

The outspoken chief executive of Europe’s largest short-haul carrier apologised unreservedly to Haji-Ioannou for portraying him as a Pinocchio figure in newspaper adverts that alleged he had deliberately hidden data about easyJet’s punctuality performance.

Ryanair and O’Leary have paid Haji-Ioannou £50,100 in damages, which the easyGroup tycoon has donated to his charitable foundation. Haji-Ioannou said the total cost to Ryanair could be as high as £250,000, once both sides’ costs were factored in.

O’Leary said: “I think it is only fair and reasonable that we say sorry and pay him damages and his legal costs, rather than waste court time on this issue.” O’Leary added that Ryanair would continue to question why easyJet did not publish weekly punctuality figures. Both multimillionaires avoided a high-court showdown, leaving it to their legal teams to settle formalities in The Strand.

But in a statement Haji-Ioannou did not pass up the opportunity to land a few of his own blows on the Ryanair boss, dedicating his victory to “all those members of the travelling public who have suffered verbal abuse and hidden extras at the hands of O’Leary”.

He said: “It is not very often that someone as arrogant and as powerful as O’Leary is forced to apologise to someone else in public and in writing. I took this legal action to protect my reputation. I am not a liar and that statement was libellous.”

The spat will continue into the weekend at least, after Haji-Ioannou bought space in a number of national newspapers for an advert featuring a cartoon of a penitent O’Leary kneeling before a priest. The advert labels “arrogant” and “powerful” O’Leary as “the ugly face of capitalism”.

Haji-Ioannou added that he felt compelled to draw a line under the usual tit-for-tat exchanges between the airline and its most high-profile personalities. “The fact that he took out paid advertisements with my photo doctored as Pinocchio is a step too far, because Pinocchio means liar and that is libellous. If it is Pinocchio today, who knows what it will be tomorrow.”

Asked if he was willing to hold a reconciliatory meeting with O’Leary, Haji-Ioannou said: “I have not seen the man for years. The problem with him is because of success he has become very arrogant. I find every conversation with him antagonistic. My relationship with him is non-existent.”

Neither airline is a stranger to legal battles but easyJet has had its fair share of clashes recently. Lawyers representing Andy Harrison, the former easyJet chief executive, sent a volley of legal letters across Fleet Street recently after a “friend” of Haji-Ioannou made allegedly defamatory comments about Harrison’s record. Haji-Ioannou also endured a bruising cross-examination by easyJet’s counsel in the high court last month, in a case where he is suing the airline over an alleged breach of its branding licence. In one exchange easyJet’s QC, Geoffrey Hobbs, accused Haji-Ioannou of treating passengers “like pound notes”.

O’Leary recently donated €75,000 to a primary school and parish hall in his native Ireland after he was forced to apologise for calling a trade union official a failed pilot. In March, O’Leary apologised to an Irish high court judge after misrepresenting his views in a letter criticising the Irish transport minister.