The EU is to lodge formal objections to Ryanair’s third proposed takeover of Aer Lingus as the airline failed to offer enough concessions.
The low cost carrier is understood to have failed to address all the competition concerns about the deal.
The European Commission is expected to reject what Ryanair’s chief executive Michael O’Leary said was a ‘radical’ and ‘unprecedented’ remedies package, reports the Financial Times.
In 2007, the commission stopped Ryanair’s first bid for Aer Lingus on the grounds it would harm consumers by creating a near monopoly on some 35 routes to and from Ireland.
The provisional deadline for a commission decision is early February. While it is rare for the commission to prohibit mergers, it has not approved a takeover that has been resubmitted before.
