Ryanair's High Court action against its chief operations officer Peter Bellew will not go ahead this week. The case was listed for hearing on Tuesday and had been expected to last for several days.
When the matter was mentioned before Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds on Monday, she was informed an issue had arisen and the case could not proceed as scheduled on Tuesday.
A new hearing date will be fixed later this week.
The action centres on Mr Bellew’s decision earlier this year to leave the company in December and join rival airline Easyjet as its chief operating officer.
Ryanair claims Mr Bellew has a clause in his contract that prevents him working for a rival for a period of 12 months after the end of his employment with Ryanair.
Ryanair’s claims are denied by Mr Bellew, who has held a number of senior roles in the aviation industry. He was previously Malaysia Airline’s chief executive and Ryanair’s director of flight operations. The case was initiated last August.