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Ryanair confirms appeal as Aer Lingus bid is barred
Ryanair has confirmed that it will lodge an appeal against the expected decision by the European Commission barring a hostile takeover of Aer Lingus.
Meanwhile, Aer Lingus welcomed the ruling, saying it will continue to compete with Ryanair across many routes “and will continue to do so in the interests of all consumers”.
The airline’s chairman John Sharman said: “Today’s prohibition decision following the EU Commission’s exhaustive investigation, is good news for Aer Lingus and for our customers.
“Customer choice is at the core of every competitive market and the creation of one dominant player out of Ireland, despite the protestations of Ryanair, just cannot be in the interests of consumers.”
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said: “Aer Lingus claimed that the EU Commission’s prohibition is ‘another boost for Aer Lingus and for consumers’.
“This is nonsense. Aer Lingus’ share price is now significantly below Ryanair’s €2.80 offer which means that their shareholders are losing out.
“The fact that consumers will be denied the Ryanair guarantee of lower Aer Lingus fares and the elimination of fuel surcharges means that they will suffer a penalty of over €100m p.a.
“We call on Aer Lingus to lower their fares and scrap these unfair fuel surcharges and at least deliver the same value to consumers that Ryanair’s offer would.
“In the mean time Ryanair will continue to grow, will continue to offer lower fares and will continue to beat Aer Lingus on price and punctuality. We look forward to the European Courts overturning this unprecedented and unlawful prohibition”.
*See previous TravelMole story
by Phil Davies
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