merrion street

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar today welcomed the decision by the European Commission to prohibit Ryanair’s proposed takeover of Aer Lingus.

The Minister said:

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.

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.

Read the full press release here.