Ryanair (FR, Dublin International) has initiated legal proceedings against its outgoing chief operating officer (COO), Peter Bellew, who, it was revealed last month, would be moving to rival easyJet (London Luton), also as COO. Irish court records showed that Ryanair had filed legal proceedings against Bellew in the country's High Court on August 6, Reuters reported.

The exact nature of the case is not known, and both Ryanair and easyJet have said they would not comment on the matter.

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary told staff on July 11 that Bellew would leave the company at the end of the year. easyJet announced his appointment a week later.

Bellew, an Irish native who also served as COO and later CEO of Malaysia Airlines (MH, Kuala Lumpur International) between 2015 and 2017, joined the Irish LCC in 2006 as deputy director of flight operations. He returned to Ryanair in 2017, describing the decision as “a form of national service”.

On a conference call with analysts last week, O’Leary said he could not comment on Bellew's departure for “legal reasons” but added that senior managers have long notice periods - in Bellew's case six months - and “pretty extensive” non-compete agreements in their contracts.

“I would not expect any senior manager in Ryanair to be moving to a competitive airline for a reasonably long period of time,” he said.