Ryanair has condemned the anticipated decision of the European Commission to block its attempts to make a takeover bid for Aer Lingus.
The company held a press conference in Brussels this morning to discuss the prohibition, which it says will result in the public being denied €100 million per annum in reduced fares.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary
The company claims that the decision is "politically motivated, designed to appease the narrow interests of the Irish Government, which was the only party, other than Aer Lingus itself, to object to the merger".
Michael O'Leary, chief executive of Ryanair, said: "The European Commission's decision to prohibit this merger between two EU airlines which between them represent just 5 per cent of European airline traffic is not just unprecedented, but in our view unlawful.
Ryanair claimed the decision would reverse 20 years of EU airline consolidation that has seen the successful merger of many large airlines.
Mr O'Leary said: "We call on the commission to explain how it can rubber stamp mergers between larger airlines such as Air France/KLM, Lufthansa/Swiss and Lufthansa/Austrian, when these airlines have bigger positions at their home airports than the combined Ryanair/Aer Lingus share at Dublin airport.
The decision is "manifestly erroneous" on over 100 counts, Ryanair said. It claimed the commission is basing the ruling on the likelihood that competition airlines will not enter Dublin airport, while Ryanair says that competitors have confirmed that they will enter Dublin.
The airline also believes that the commission's decision is based on the commission's "inaccurate claim that there are barriers to entry at Dublin airport".
In a statement issued this afternoon, Dermot Mannion, chief executive of Aer Lingus, said: "Michael O'Leary has sought to "take out" his closest competitor and he has failed. He is now lashing out in a vain attempt to disguise that failure. If the EU Commission announces a prohibition decision following its exhaustive investigation, it will represent another boost for Aer Lingus and for consumers.
"We have made tremendous strides over a relatively short time in successfully executing our strategy and look forward to making even more progress in the coming months. The environment is competitive and we will continue to fight to deliver on our excellent prospects as an independent company," he said.