The European court has refused to overturn a block on Ryanair buying rival airline Aer Lingus.
It backed a decision by the European Commission to ban the low-cost airline from a full takeover bid to protect consumers in Ireland.
But it did allow Ryanair to keep its 29.8% holding in Aer Lingus.
Michael O’Leary immediately released a statement saying it was “currently studying the details of this 125-page judgment”.
O’Leary said the ruling “will not prevent Ryanair making a future offer” for its rival, but said there was no current plans.
“We continue to believe that the long term financial viability of Aer Lingus can only be secured as part of one strong Irish airline group, particularly when the rest of Europe’s airlines are consolidating to three main flag carriers, lead by Air France, British Airways and Lufthansa and two large low fares carriers, Ryanair and easyjet,” he said.
“Unless Aer Lingus finds a strong airline partner then we believe it is doomed to fail because it can’t compete with Ryanair’s low fares, customer service or scale.”
By Bev Fearis
