Aer Lingus welcomes today's judgement by the EU General Court in Luxembourg dismissing Ryanair's appeal against the prohibition of its hostile takeover bid for Aer Lingus. This decision confirms the EU Commission's findings that consumers would be harmed by such a takeover which would remove the competition between Aer Lingus and Ryanair on Irish routes.

In a separate judgement the Court refused Aer Lingus' appeal in which it sought clarification on the powers of the EU Commission under the EU Merger Regulation to deal with Ryanair's minority shareholding in Aer Lingus (currently 29.8%). Aer Lingus will consider this judgement in detail before deciding whether to make a further appeal to the European Court of Justice.

Colm Barrington, Aer Lingus Chairman said, "Today's rejection by the European Court of Ryanair's appeal confirms that a takeover of Aer Lingus by Ryanair would harm consumers and lead to higher prices on Irish routes. It is regrettable that the Court has not taken this opportunity to take the further step necessary to address the anti-competitive effects of Ryanair's minority shareholding in Aer Lingus which is contrary to the interests of the majority of our shareholders."