merrion street

Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar has welcomed today’s decision by the European Commission to prohibit Ryanair’s proposed takeover of Aer Lingus.

"This decision supports the Government’s view that a merger would be bad for competition in the Irish aviation market. Following detailed consideration of the proposal, the Government's strongly held view is that a takeover of Aer Lingus by Ryanair would have a significant detrimental effect on competition, connectivity and employment in the Irish market," Minister Varadkar said.

"Similar to my own view, the Commission considered that the remedies proposed by Ryanair were insufficient to address the competition concerns."

The Commission concluded that the merger would ‘have harmed consumers’, reduced choice and would be likely to increase prices for consumers travelling into and out of Ireland.

Promoting competition among airlines serving the Irish market is at the heart of the Government’s aviation strategy. The continued presence of at least two strong competing airlines serving Ireland’s air transport needs is clearly good for competition. Ireland is fortunate to have a number of strong and profitable airlines and the competitive dynamic among them has brought significant benefits for Irish consumers.

The European Commission conducted a very detailed examination of the proposal under the EU Merger Control Rules. It consulted a wide range of stakeholders, including the Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport, on the remedies packages put forward by Ryanair to address the competition concerns identified by the Commission.