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EU will block Aer Lingus Merger, say Ryanair

Ryanair says the European Commission intends to prohibit the airline’s proposed merger with Aer Lingus.

The airline says it has met “every competition concern” raised by the EU during a review process, and suggests the decision is politically motivated.

Ryanair’s Robin Kiely said: “It appears clear from this morning’s meeting, that no matter what remedies Ryanair offered, we were not going to get a fair hearing and were going to be prohibited regardless of competition rules.

“Given Ryanair’s remedies package clearly addresses every issue raised in the EU’s Statement of Objections, any decision to prohibit would be manifestly unfair and in contravention of EU competition rules.

“Ryanair has no alternative but to appeal any prohibition decision and we expect to get a fair hearing at the European Courts, as we haven’t received one from Commissioner Almunia and his case team. This decision is clearly a political one to meet the narrow, vested interests of the Irish Government and is not based on competition law.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .