Ryanair claims breach of human rights as it appeals to top court
RYANAIR is taking its legal challenge over Aer Lingus to the UK Supreme Court, yesterday claiming it is a human rights issue.
The budget airline had previously been told by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to sell off its 29 per cent stake in Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus, reducing its stake to no more than five per cent.
Ryanair challenged the decision, but was yesterday rejected by the UK Court of Appeal, with airline spokesman Robin Kiely describing the CMA’s final report as being “based on fanciful hypotheses, secretive ‘evidence’ and unsubstantiated assumptions”.
As a result boss Michael O’Leary instructed lawyers to appeal the ruling at the UK Supreme Court.
“It raises human rights issues of significant public importance, including the scope of protection offered to businesses by the right to property,” the company said.
Ryanair also requested a formal review by the CMA of its final report due to recent offers by International Airlines Group (IAG) for Aer Lingus, claiming it “fully disproves the theories” of the report.