Ryanair started "a war" against three members of a pilots group after the publication of an email the airline says falsely inferred it misled the market, the High Court has been told.

Ryanair did not accept the results of an internet survey among its pilots about their attitudes to safety reporting procedures because they were anonymous and unverified, the company's HR director, Darrell Hughes, told the High Court.

Channel 4 is entitled to claim journalistic privilege over sources for a TV programme which Ryanair says is defamatory, a High Court judge has ruled.

Ryanair has been accused of intimidating pilots who raise safety concerns and of not having a “transparent safety culture”.