Ryanair ordered to cut Aer Lingus stake
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Ryanair has been told it must reduce its stake in Aer Lingus by the UK Competition Commission (UKCC).
The low-cost carrier has been ordered to reduce its stake in the Irish carrier from 29.8% to 5% in a move to create more competition on flights between the UK and Ireland.
It comes after Ryanair has made several failed attempts to buy Aer Lingus after rejection from competition authorities.
In a statement on its website, Ryanair accused the UKCC of ‘inventing concerns’ around competition over its Aer Lingus share, which it has held for seven years.
It also said the UKCC findings contradicted European Commission (EC) recent statement that it had not seen competition decrease on the routes since 2007. It will be taking the UKCC to the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal.
“This report by the UKCC is bizarre and manifestly wrong but also entirely expected. From the first meeting with the UKCC it has been clear to us that Simon Polito’s and Roger Davis’ minds had been made up in advance and no truth or evidence was going to get in the way of their story,” said Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary.
“In February 2013 the European Commission found that competition between Ryanair and Aer Lingus has “intensified” since 2007. The UKCC’s failure to accept this finding is a breach of its legal duty of sincere cooperation between the UK and the EU competition authorities and will form the basis for Ryanair’s appeal against this bizarre and manifestly unsound ruling, which our lawyers will lodge with the Competition Appeal Tribunal in the coming weeks,” he added.
According to a BBC report, Aer Lingus’ chairman Colm Barrington commended the UKCC and said it was ‘unacceptable’ that Ryanair had been able to hold such a high stake.
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