Ryanair warns of Lufthansa/Air Berlin ‘stitch-up’
Ryanair is renewing it calls for competition authorities to block the ‘stitch-up’ between Lufthansa, Air Berlin and the German Government to carve up Air Berlin’s assets.
It says the plans breach all German and EU competition rules and will see Lufthansa move from a 68% share of the German market to a 95% monopoly.
Ryanair says the monopoly has been supported by the German Government providing €150m of State Aid.
"Competitor airlines will struggle to get slots in major airports such as Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Munich, where Lufthansa will control over 80% of peak time slots," it added.
Chief executive Michael O’Leary said: "The German Bundeskartellamt and the European Commission must block the anti-consumer stitch-up playing out between the German Government, Lufthansa and Air Berlin.
"Given that the German Government is centrally involved in these manoeuvres, the Bundeskartellamt will be afraid to impose competition rules. On this basis, it is vital that the European Commission takes immediate and decisive action to protect German consumers from a Lufthansa high fare monopoly."
O’Leary told a press conference on Monday that Ryanair was not getting involved in the sale.
"If there was a fair and open process we would get involved, but we are not getting involved in this process because it’s a stitch-up," he told reporters in Berlin.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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