Probe into Ryanair stake suspended
11 April 2012
The competition investigation into Ryanair's 30% stake in rival Irishcarrier Aer Lingus was today suspended to allow the budget carrier to appeal against the probe.
The Office of Fair Trading started to challenge whether Ryanair's stake gave it "material influence" over the airline last October. But that was more than four years after the budget airline bought shares in Aer Lingus, and Ryanair successfully argued in the Court of Appeal that the OFT no longer had jurisdiction over the deal.
Judges ordered a stay of the OFT investigation until the Court of Appeal rules on the "out of time" issue, after a full hearing scheduled for next year.
