Aer Lingus welcomes European Commission prohibition of Ryanair’s offer

Dublin & London, 27 February 2013: Aer Lingus Group plc (“Aer Lingus”) welcomes the decision announced today by the European Commission (EC) prohibiting Ryanair’s offer for Aer Lingus. This is the first occasion on which the EC has needed to block the same deal twice. It is also Ryanair’s third failed offer for Aer Lingus. The full text of the EC’s announcement and frequently asked questions are linked below:

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-167_en.htm

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-13-144_en.htm

The number of routes into and out of Ireland on which Aer Lingus and Ryanair compete has sharply increased since the first offer was blocked in 2007, so the repeated prohibition was always to be expected. Aer Lingus is Ryanair’s only significant competitor on the vast majority of Irish air routes, and both business and leisure travellers are well served by the vigorous competition that has been preserved between these two carriers.

Aer Lingus recognises the careful and detailed investigation conducted by the EC. Christoph Mueller, CEO of Aer Lingus, said:

“Aer Lingus’ position from the outset has been that Ryanair’s offer should never have been made. The series of inadequate remedy offers presented by Ryanair only underlines the view that Ryanair made its offer without any reasonable belief that it could obtain clearance. ”

Aer Lingus continues to cooperate with the UK Competition Commission (UK CC) in its investigation into Ryanair’s 29.8% shareholding in Aer Lingus. The UK CC investigation began following the referral by the UK’s Office of Fair Trading on 15 June 2012, which observed that “there is a realistic prospect that its stake has resulted or will result in a substantial lessening of competition.” The announcement of Ryanair’s bid on 19 June, just four days later, was clearly motivated by a desire to derail the UK CC’s investigation.

Aer Lingus remains focussed on financial and operational performance. Aer Lingus is a much stronger airline today than it was at the time of the previous Ryanair offers. The 2012 preliminary results announced on 6 February 2013 demonstrated that Aer Lingus delivered an excellent overall performance. During 2012, the Company continued to win market share from Ryanair and other competitors, while also increasing operating profit, total revenue, passenger numbers, average yields and load factors. Aer Lingus is well positioned for future growth and continues to implement its successful ‘value carrier’ business model.