Ryanair wants inquiry blocked

Ryanair has asked the courts to block a British regulator’s probe into its 30% stake in Aer Lingus, saying it overlaps a new European review.

Britain’s Competition Commission’s investigation of the minority stake acquired six years ago violates the jurisdiction of the EU, which is considering the bid by Europe’s biggest discount airline to buy the rest of Aer Lingus for €694m, Ryanair’s lawyer David Pannick said at the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London yesterday.

There is a “fundamental overlap” because “each of the two regulators are going to be looking at essentially the same factors”, Pannick told a panel of three judges.