Aer Lingus to lodge EU appeal in bid to unseat Ryanair

Aer Lingus will today lodge its formal appeal with an EU court as part of the legal process towards removing Ryanair from its shareholder register.

If successful, the appeal will enable the EU Commission to order Ryanair to dispose of its stake in Aer Lingus.

The EU Commission recently decided that it does not have the legal authority to order a sell-down of Ryanair’s shares under merger regulation.

Aer Lingus said today it was nonetheless confident that the regulation does in fact give the Commission that power, saying the stake was part of the original takeover attempt which the Commission prohibited.

Aer Lingus has also asked the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg, as a matter of urgency, to make an order "to prevent Ryanair from interfering in the running of Aer Lingus’ business pending judgement on the appeal".

Aer Lingus chairman John Sharman said: "Aer Lingus…refuses to be undermined by its competitor. It is our intention to deal with the presence of Ryanair on our shareholder register decisively through short-term interim measures, as well as seeking a speedy permanent resolution from the Court of First Instance."