An airline association backed by Lufthansa Group and Air France-KLM has taken legal action in Ireland against the Irish Aviation Authority over Ryanair’s compliance with EU ownership and control rules. The case, heard in the Irish High Court, could ultimately affect Ryanair’s community operating licence, though any outcome is expected to follow a legal process rather than trigger an immediate grounding.
The European Network Airlines Association argues that Ryanair may not meet the EU requirement that airlines holding a community licence must be majority-owned and effectively controlled by EU interests. Ryanair has rejected the claim and has moved to oppose the proceedings, casting them as an attempt by rivals to use the rules to curb competition and choice in the European market.
The regulator is the formal target of the judicial review, while Ryanair is involved as a notice party. The dispute appears to centre on whether the Irish authority has been too reluctant to act on ownership concerns, prompting ENAA to pursue the matter in court after earlier approaches to regulators did not deliver the result it wanted. A separate development is Ryanair’s warning that it may quit the Airlines for Europe lobby if the legal offensive continues.
The case remains at an early procedural stage, with no final court ruling reported.