26th Sep 2019 15:58
VIENNA (Alliance News) - Budget airline Ryanair Holdings PLC is not interested in buying Thomas Cook subsidiary Condor but would consider acquiring parts of the German holiday carrier if it is split up to guarantee competition, Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said Thursday.
The head of Europe's largest budget carrier charged the German government's recent EUR380 million bridge loan for Condor was in preparation for Lufthansa buying another German airline and gaining market dominance.
"This is yet another fattening up of a German turkey,"Â O'Leary told a press conference in Vienna, the base of Ryanair's Austrian subsidiary Laudamotion.
British tour operator Thomas Cook collapsed and filed for liquidation on Monday, leaving tens of thousands of holidaymakers stranded. Unlike its parent company, Condor is solvent and continues to operate, but has obtained a bridging loan to guard against potential liquidity shortages.
O'Leary said European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager should not only look at USÂ giants like Amazon and Google, but at Germany's Lufthansa. He pointed to the German carrier's past acquisition of troubled Air Berlin.
If Lufthansa ended up swallowing Condor, "we would expect there to be competition divestments" that might be of interest to Ryanair, the head of Ireland-based airline said.
Lufthansa made a non-binding offer for Condor in May but has not confirmed this week whether it is still interested. However, Lufthansa has never officially withdrawn its bid.
Copyright dpa
Related Shares:
RYA.L