Ryanair seemingly presses ahead with attack on Wizz
Ryanair will lodge a complaint at the European Commission against rival carrier Wizz Air, claiming that it violates European ownership rules, said Michael Cawley on Tuesday.
Wizz Air is in breach of the European airline ownership rules [he said].
EU regulation stipulate that the majority owner of carriers operating within the bloc must be European, and Ryanair claims Wizz Air has no such owner.
Aviation is not liberalised worldwide. It is regulated by bilateral intergovernmental agreements where flights may be launched from which cities. In the European Union, though there is the 'open skies’ accord, that allows carriers to have flights anywhere from any city provided they are majority-owned by Europeans.
Ryanair has obtained new information about the ownership structure of Wizz Air, Cawley said.
Wizz Air Holdings is registered in Jersey on the Channel Islands, the two subsidiaries of which are the Hungarian and Ukrainian carriers, Cawley said. The company is owned by a company registered in Malta, which is also owned by a Maltese company that is also owned by a Maltese firm, he added. Overall, you can get to Wizz Air Holdings via four layers of owners, on top of which there is a person called Stuart Blackburn. Ryanair claims he does not represent European owners.
Although the Ryanair chief was asked what they base this claim on, he declined to answer.
Cawley said "Wizz Air is not an airline Hungary needs, on which the Hungarian (presumably Budapest) airport can lean on. It lacks loyalty and sustainability."
He noted that they will lodge a complaint against Wizz Air to the aviation body of the European Commission today.
From the new article published by recently cited portfolio.hu.
It would suggest that the last investor ties between Wizz and Ryan were broken and the playoff is real.