Ryanair planning to purchase 25% stake in London’s Stansted Airport

Ryanair is planning to buy a 25% stake in London’s third largest airport, Stansted, according to its deputy CEO, Michael Cawley, who said they were hoping to make a bid within months.

Ryanair, Stansted’s biggest customer, is prepared to make “a modest commitment” as “anchor tenant” at the airport and has been examining proposals from five or six groups, from which one or two serious bids are likely to emerge.

The Competition Commission in 2009 ruled the British Airports Authority had too large a market share by owning three London airports and ordered it to sell Stansted and Gatwick.