Dublin Aviator:
You are correct the OFT has no teeth it cannot force Ryanair to sell its stake in AerLingus. If it finds however that Ryanair has exerted de facto influence over the company then it can refer the matter to The Competions Authority. They have lots of teeth. Ask the BAA or Ferrovial if they wanted to sell Gatwick Airport. Ryanair has already exerted influence at board level in Aerlingus by blocking Share issues on more than one occasion and blocking possible fleet changes. This was done during each AGM the company has had by Ryanair using its stake to block the special resolutions neccessary to effect these changes.
Ryanair and Aerlingus compete on a number of city pair routes between Ireland and UK. The European Competitions Committe has already found that there would be reduced competition on these routes if a merger was allowed therefore the OFT has a right to probe the matter. This has already been ruled on by the UKs Court of Appeal.
So Mr Fingleton has a lot more power than he would appear. Lets wait and see what happens. Perhaps O'Leary protests too much because he sees the writing on the wall.
Lets hope so!