Ryanair has pledged to take its case to the Supreme Court after the Court of Appeal upheld an order for it to sell most of its stake in Aer Lingus.
It means the low cost airline has lost a further battle with competition authorities.
Ryanair had challenged an earlier ruling by the Competition Appeal Tribunal, which had supported the Competition Commission’s decision that its share of Aer Lingus should be reduced.
The airline has also called for the Competition and Market Authority’s (CMA) final report to be reviewed which said Ryanair’s 29% shareholding would deter other airlines from merging or bidding for Aer Lingus.
It claims the recent offers for Aer Lingus made by British Airways’ owner IAG show the CMA findings were wrong.
Ryanair’s Robin Kiely said: "While we note the Court of Appeal’s ruling on the CMA’s Final Report on Ryanair’s 29% stake in Aer Lingus, this judgment ignores the fact that the CMA’s Final Report was based on fanciful hypotheses, secretive "evidence" and unsubstantiated assumptions. As such, we have instructed our lawyers to appeal this ruling to the UK Supreme Court.
Additionally, Ryanair has now requested a formal review by the CMA of its Final Report…Clearly the CMA’s case has now been totally undermined by the IAG offers."
