EU Reject Ryanair takeover of Aer Lingus

[racedo]

I don't think this is the last we will hear about this.

Ryanair are going to take the EU Commission to court for political bias.

Figured it was always going to head down that route anyway. Going to be costly for EU.

Something that has occured to me is that Ryanair have jumped the EU announcement of this by a couple of weeks. EU will now have to start scrambling on it well before they expected.

[Laasjet]

I don't credit the EU with much up top but I would think that they would have thought through that senario.

Am I alone in thinking that MOL is becoming a bit of a liability. His outpourings of hate and innuendo are remembered and there comes a time, with people like that, to call in the insults.

Perhaps they would have done better if the CEO had acted in a more professionally manner in times gone by?

Is it time for him to take his wealth and play with the horses at Giggistown?

[bucko]

Something similar happened with the aborted UPS-TNT merger, UPS abandoned it on the 14th January after been told by the EC it was going to be blocked, after they had also provided a lengthy list of proposed remedies. The official announcement came from the EC over 2 weeks later on the 30th January.

[Leg]

Very bad news, the EU is akin to a headless chicken, Ducksie will win this on eventually, he has other irons in the fire....

[Leg]

A part government owned airline is better than an independent airline, get a grip for goodness sake, Lingus will be long gone as BE goes from a blip, to an upward trajectory.

And to put you straight, NO Ryanair money would come to the UK business, so your last comment is baseless.

[BEagle]

Excellent news that the attempted takeover of Aer Lingus has been blocked!

I'm surprised that flybe thought that it had any chance of succeeding.

[Leg]

Lets just wait and see, the fat lady is nowhere to seen yet.

[Rivet Joint]

Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry couldn't resist!

[sunday8pm]

You just have to wonder whether the timing of the FR statement wasn't a little calculated. The EU still say that any final decision has yet to be made. They're effectively issuing warning in public that if it is a no they're going to be angry fight it all the way. Bully boy tactics really.

Regarding the bid itself its hard to disagree with those of the opinion that Flybe would just become a Ryanair pup and once their time is up would be suitably squashed. It seems the EU might see it this way too and the only way to stop FR collecting all the chess pieces in the long-term is by getting someone else to buy EI. Unless of course you believe they'll survive an FR competition onslaught in the wake of the EU saying no again.

[PAXboy]

MoL really doesn't care which method he uses to squash EI - as long as he can be the winner. If the EU does reject this, it will just take him a bit longer and he'll have to spend a bit more money.

[riptack]

I don't understand MOL's obsession with EI, but perhaps there is something driving it that I'm unaware of. I would have thought he'd be better employed doing what he and FR have been incredibly successful at - low cost flying.


However I do think if FR could have squashed EI on competition/price terms they would have done it long ago. The fact remains that EI have survived despite sharing a homebase with FR and flying to a substantial number of similar destinations. There remains an adequate number of Irish originating passengers who will choose EI over FR, for a myriad of reasons such as just pure snob value, a perceived difference in quality of service, connection hubs etc.

[Aisle2c]

Originally Posted by riptack

I don't understand MOL's obsession with EI, but perhaps there is something driving it that I'm unaware of. I would have thought he'd be better employed doing what he and FR have been incredibly successful at - low cost flying.

Logically you would think it's the North American potential. Apart from that, the only other possibility is single-minded hatred on his part, and using Ryanair's money to prove a point.

I'm delighted the EU have stopped this yet again. We've seen previously how Ryanair operate in stamping out opponents who set up new routes. I can't just hop in a car and drive to Berlin - being an island nation we are in a fairly unique situation. As things stand, no other airline would consider coming into Ireland because of what Ryanair would do on the route.

[lexoncd]

The Ryanair business model is well known and though I think with a more customer centric focus could achieve significantly more than they currently do the figures speak for themselves.

If you move to long haul the operation has to change. hand luggage only? No inflight catering? No seat recline? No pre assigned seating? Acquiring EI gives him a starting point on which to expand. Change the EI model as required so.... Luggage charges, pre booked meal charge, IFE charge, etc etc but you don't confuse the public with the Ryanair model. Establish Charloi as a European hub and it makes sense at the right price.

[bluecode]

Whether you are for or against Ryanair on this one. I think in the end they will win. Someone said it already. If it was any other airline, it would have been approved. It is political bias against Ryanair and the courts most likely will agree.

You have to be incredibly naive to think the MoL didn't anticipate this outcome.

He'll be ready with his big guns.

It's my view that he's been going easy on Aer Lingus because he has an interest in keeping it going right now. If the courts go against Ryanair, which I doubt and he sells his shareholding. The gloves will come off. He drive Aer Lingus into the ground.

He wins either way. It's just good business. Aer Lingus is I'm a afraid, a bit of a sacred cow but it won't escape the attentions of the wolf.

[PAXboy]

That is indeed the story, bluecode, as I see it. For MoL, it's no longer about business pure and simple. The man has been rejected by many over his life and he is going to prove that he is 'King of the Castle' and is 'The Daddy' or whatever phrase you choose.

When someone has had as much success as he has done - the brain does get changed. He knows how brilliant he is and is going to prove it to all those nasty people who did him down and criticised him before.

One of his earlier targets was to carry more pax p.a. than BA, which he achieved. He said (along the lines of, if I recall correctly) that he was going to show the Brits what a Paddy could do. For MoL, it is all personal. Whether it was at the outset, I have no means of knowing.

[sunday8pm]

MoL is no great fan of Brussels or Aer Lingus and this is an opportunity to slap one in the face and kill the other. FR will have a case in court if they have met all the initial EU concerns as they state to have done.

[bluecode]

I agree paxboy, not sure about the rejection thing but it is about beating the others business wise and probably personally. I actually know someone like that currently on a dizzy rise to the top in a slightly different aviation sector. You can guess who his business hero is. You will be hearing about him in due course. Oddly enough he is a pilot but shares MoL's attitude to pilots.

My close association with him has led to some insight into O'Leary. I suspect their personalities are comparable. Both are business pscyhopaths, both prone to litigation, both use people for their own ends and dispense with them without thought when no longer useful. Both are charismatic in person and deadly as enemies.

Neither will let go of their ambitions and will happily destroy their rivals.

Which leads me to believe that MoL will win this in the end. As for the other guy. He'll win too and I'm staying on for the ride.

They are not like the rest of us.

[Tableview]

MoL will win eventually, he'll end up acquiring EI for a song when it becomes worthless, or it will simply disappear and he'll fill the vacuum. Very sad, but I can't see the Irish government having the will or the resources to keep the carrier going for ever.

[j636]

all the initial EU concerns as they state to have done.

With all due respect how have they meet the terms, giving up 43 EI routes, EI serve the majority of routes twice daily + so giving BE only 9 Airbus aircraft for 43 routes is a joke. EI operate 37 Airbus and around 12 ATR (or will for S13). 43 routes if the majority of EI network and BE are expected to provide the same level of service. Most EI flights are 2h30m so at most BE would get per aircraft is 4 rotations per day. There is no way if BE used there own aircraft they could provide the level of service with aircraft that EI are doing on these 43 routes. There CEO gave pathetic interview on radio earlier this week and it was very clear he has done very little research into EI and the way they operate. All he see's is €€€.

[Aerlingus231]

Very sad, but I can't see the Irish government having the will or the resources to keep the carrier going for ever.

But the airline is doing a fine job of keeping itself going, three years now it's declared a profit and passenger numbers are at an all time high. I don't think the government need to do anything to keep EI going for a long time more. The only protection the government was providing here was for the consumer, not the company. The case may have been different if EI was failing, but at the moment it has the 3rd highest profit margin of an airline in Europe, so the only interests the government has protected are those of the people who elected them.