Ryanair tries to buy Aer Lingus again: BBC News

[BBC News] The budget airline Ryanair has launched another attempt to buy its biggest Irish rival Aer Lingus.

Michael O’Leary said: “This offer represents a significant opportunity to combine Aer Lingus with Ryanair.   Photo: Wikipedia

Ryanair says it plans to make a cash offer for Aer Lingus, which would value it at 694m euros ($883m; £561m). Ryanair will make the offer through a subsidiary called Coinside.

Ryanair already owns 30% of Aer Lingus.

On Monday, Ryanair’s existing holding was referred to the UK’s Competition Commission for a probe that could lead to it being forced to sell the stake.

When Ryanair tried to buy Aer Lingus in 2006, its attempt was blocked by the European Commission.

It said the 1.30 euro offer was a premium of 38.3% above Tuesday’s Aer Lingus closing price.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said: “This offer represents a significant opportunity to combine Aer Lingus with Ryanair, to form one strong Irish airline group capable of competing with Europe’s other major airline groups……

Read the full story at BBC News……

 

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BBC News
19th June, 2012

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Ryanair stake in Aer Lingus referred to UK Competition Commission: Irish Examiner

[Irish Examiner] The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in the UK has referred Ryanair‘s stake in Aer Lingus to the Competition Commission.

Ryanair had sought to stop the investigation: Irish Examiner

The Commission has the power to force the low-cost carrier to sell-down its almost 30% stake in the airline, if it has found to be anti-competitive.

The OFT began its investigation two years ago and has found that Ryanair’s stake may give it the ability to exercise material influence over commercial policy at Aer Lingus.

It said that Ryanair has the ability to weaken Aer Lingus as a competitor and that its shareholding may confine Aer Lingus investment options.

As a result, it has now moved the case to the Competition Commission.

Ryanair had sought to stop the investigation, but this was dismissed by the UK Court of Appeal last month.

Read the original story at The Irish Examiner…..

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The Irish Examiner
17th June

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Aer Lingus wins UK court battle to force Ryanair out as it’s top shareholder: Washington Post

[Washington Post] DUBLIN — Aer Lingus welcomed a court victory Tuesday that permits British authorities to keep investigating Ryanair over its ownership of a 30 percent stake in Aer Lingus, a sore point between Ireland’s two major carriers.

Ryanair said it would appeal Tuesday’s judgment to the UK Supreme Court. Photo: Wikipedia

Ryanair sought to block the probe into whether its status as the No. 1 shareholder in Aer Lingus represents a threat to competition on British-Irish air services. Ryanair lawyers argued that Britain’s Office of Fair Trading had no jurisdiction to investigate two Dublin-based airlines, and that the probe launched in 2010 came too late.But the Court of Appeal in London sided with the Office of Fair Trading and Aer Lingus, which wants Ryanair to be forced to sell. Ryanair built its stake as part of a hostile 2006 takeover bid that was blocked both by European Union regulators and Ireland’s government, which retains a 25 percent stake.

Ryanair said it would appeal Tuesday’s judgment to the UK Supreme Court.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary says he expects eventually to purchase the government’s stake to take control of Aer Lingus because of Ireland’s rapid descent to the brink of bankruptcy, culminating in a……

Read the full story at The Washington Post….

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By Associated Press
Tuesday, May 22

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Flybe becomes first budget airline to drop £9 debit card fees: Independent

[Independent] Change comes as the Office of Fair Trading is considering legal action against travel firms that refuse to scrap debit-card charges.

The airline has abandoned its £9 flat fee for paying with debit cards

Flybe, Europe’s largest regional carrier, says it has removed the charge as part of “A fair, open and transparent approach to sales and service policies”.

Until its removal today, the fee earned Flybe an average of £4.50 for each passenger flown. But the airline’s UK managing director, Andrew Strong, told The Independent: “I’m not looking to put up fares to offset the removal. People will choose us because we offer a better product.”

Passengers should therefore find fares slightly lower.

Flybe introduced baggage fees six years ago. Initially the charge stood at £2; today, the fee for a small 15kg bag on a short flight is six times as much.

The change comes as the Office of Fair Trading is considering legal action against travel firms that refuse to scrap debit-card charges. After a “super-complaint” by Which? about surcharges, the OFT said it might take traders to court: “If individual traders do not make changes we consider sufficient in a timely manner, we will consider enforcement action to ensure compliance”.

Europe’s two biggest low-cost airlines, easyJet and Ryanair, have no plans to drop their charges. Ryanair collects £6 per passenger, per flight, for debit and credit card payments; the fee can be avoided by paying with the airline’s own-brand Cash Passport pre-paid card.

The airline describes the charge as an…..

Read the rest of Simon Calder’s article at The Indepedent….

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Simon Calder
Independent 26 April 2012

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OFT halves BA’s record fine for price-fixing – Telegrapgh

[Telegraph] British Airways will pay just half the £121.5m fine it initially agreed to settle the long running Office of Fair Trading investigation into price fixing. 

British Airways will pay just half the £121.5m fine it initially agreed to settle the long running Office of Fair Trading investigation into price fixing

The reduced £58.5m fine comes after protracted negotiations between the airline and the OFT over allegations it colluded in price-fixing with Virgin Atlantic. Sir Richard Branson’s airline escaped punishment after blowing the whistle on the activity.

The reduced fine comes two years after a criminal case brought by theOFT against four former and current British Airways executives collapsed. It also follows a number of cases at the Competition Appeal Tribunal dramatically reduced fines handed by the OFT on separate cases.

Sources close to the OFT said the decision to reduce the fine from the figure agreed with BA in 2007 is a reflection of decisions taken by CAT and changed economic environment.

Ali Nikpay, OFT senior director of cartels and criminal enforcement, said: “The size of the fine underlines that it is important for companies to take steps to ensure that they have an effective compliance culture. The fine would have been higher still but for the co-operation provided by BA throughout the OFT’s investigation.

Without this, together with BA’s admission of the infringement, the case would have taken considerably longer to resolve.”

In 2007 British Airways was fined $300m (£187.4m) by the US Department of Justice over price-fixing of fuel surcharges with Virgin Atlantic between 2004 and 2006……

Read the full Telegraph story here….

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By Jonathan Russell
19 Apr 2012

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