The Chief Executive of Ryanair Michael O'Leary has apologised "sincerely and unreservedly" for using the term "high-fare rapists" in reference to the airline's competitors.
Mr O'Leary had been accused of "trivialising" rape after making the remarks ahead of his airline's annual general meeting in Dublin last week.
In a video posted on YouTube, Mr O'Leary said that, in conversation with "family and friends", he has come to realise that the word has caused considerable "upset and offence" to a wide number of people, "especially to victims and survivors".
"I want to apologise sincerely and unreservedly to those people, especially to the survivors," he said.
"I am truly sorry for the offence and the upset I have caused you by my careless use of those words. It won't happen again."
Mr O’Leary had initially refused to apologise, saying it was "absolutely" appropriate to compare other airlines to rapists.
The comments for which has apologised were given to reporters at the company's headquarters: "You might find some people will choose not to fly with Ryanair - but you know they'll be overrun with the people abandoning Aer Lingus, Lufthansa, BA and others desperate to get to Ryanair's low fares because they can't afford to fly with the high-fare rapists around Europe."
The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) had called on Mr O'Leary to apologise, saying his words would contribute to trivialising sexual violence.
In a letter to Mr O'Leary, DRCC CEO Rachel Morrogh had urged him to issue a "swift apology to survivors of rape and sexual violence", saying that an apology would be a form of healing for those hurt by his comments.
Mr O'Leary initially replied to Ms Morrogh saying that "Since I clearly did not trivialise the heinous crime of rape, I will certainly not be issuing an apology or accepting your offer of training."
However, he has now apologised for his use of the term.
This evening, the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre's former CEO Noeline Blackwell described Mr O'Leary's apology as a "clear, good apology".
Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime, Ms Blackwell added that Mr O’Leary recognised his use of the word "was offensive to victims and survivors and to so many people who are at risk of rape".
"That was a clear, good apology ... By people talking to him within his own company, outside of his own company, he has seen the impact of this on people and the need to change his ways.
"And one of the things I think we can definitely say is, so often it's having the conversation, it's speaking out, it's refusing to accept poor behaviour when it happens that actually changes behaviour.
"We need a lot more of that. It's good to see he has led the way," she said.
Ms Blackwell added: "It’ll be really interesting to see what he can do to contribute to that conversation whereby he, with all his education and all his advantage, could actually use that term without thinking or as he said himself carelessly and how, maybe, he can contribute to an Ireland where nobody uses that term carelessly and where we have to use it less and less and where we all remain outraged by rape and sexual violence in our society and have, as the Government programme would have it, zero tolerance for it."
In a statement, Ms Morrogh said: "Dublin Rape Crisis Centre welcomes Mr O'Leary's apology and recognition that his comments caused concern and hurt to people who have been raped as well as to their families and friends.
"We hope Mr O'Leary’s apology helps promote a greater public understanding of the impact language can have and the harm that trivialising sexual violence can do. Words matter and positive leadership really matters as well, so we view Mr O’Leary’s apology as being very important.
"We remain committed to and focused on ensuring that the experiences of victims and survivors are treated with the seriousness, dignity and respect they deserve."