Ryanair CEO praised by protesters after getting pied in the face.

Michael O'Leary found himself in a sticky situation when he was splattered in the face with two cream pies by eco protesters. The CEO of Ryanair was caught off guard as he was about to address reporters in Brussels, Belgium, this morning.

A woman in black ran up to O'Leary with a grin, shoving the cream pie into his face before a second woman delivered a second splatter, this time down his neck and back. The protesters cheered and shouted "Welcome to Belgium!" as they ran away.

But O'Leary seemed to take it in stride and quipped to the media: "I have never had such a warm welcome. Unfortunately it was environmentalists and the cream was artificial. I invite passengers to come to Ireland where the cream is better!"

Ryanair's Twitter account posted a humorous comment after the incident: "Passengers so happy with our routes and petition that they're celebrating with cake."

O'Leary had arrived in Brussels due to a strike called by Ryanair pilots based in Belgium's Charleroi airport on September 14-15, which was meant to coincide with a meeting of Ryanair shareholders. The pilots are demanding compliance with Belgian law, the payment of arrears and the opening of negotiations without prerequisites.

The Ryanair CEO then stood covered in cream right next to a cutout of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, with whom the airline is battling over preventing overflights from being cancelled.

In May, a petition signed by more than 1.1 million passengers was sent to protect overflights from being adversely impacted when air traffic controllers go on strike. Ryanair had been forced to cancel thousands of overflights from Germany, Spain, Italy, the UK and Ireland, blaming the European aviation authorities for prioritising short-haul and domestic flights over international travellers.

However, the European Commission said several European states already had protections in place to prevent overflight cancellations. Ryanair is now demanding the same protections to be enforced in all EU member states.

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