ju068 From Serbia, joined Aug 2009, 2579 posts, RR: 6 Posted (1 year 3 months 4 days 23 hours ago) and read 3951 times:
Good evening,
Ryanair will place a complaint to the European Commission against its 'Hungarian' rival Wizz Air. Deputy CEO of Ryanair, Michael Cawley, claimed that Wizz Air violated the EU ownership rule.
According to the EU regulation, any airline registered in the Union must have a European majority owner. According to Ryanair, Wizz Air does not.
Cawley stated that the they got new information related to the ownership of Wizz Air which clearly leads them to conclude that the airline does not fulfil the EU criteria.
Cawley added that Wizz Air holdings are registered in Jersey on the Channel Islands, the two subsidiarities of which are the Ukranian and Hungarian carriers. Furthermore, the company is owned by another company registered in Malta, which is also owned by another company in Malta. There are four layers of Wizz Air owners, on top of it all there is a guy called Stuart Blackburn, who according to Ryanair, does not represent the European owners.
Ryanair added that they will submit the complaint to the European Commission today.
It is interesting that it was Wizz Air who complained to the European Commission related to Malev's renationalization. I guess Ryanair is fighting fire with fire. Not to mention that Ryanair is pointing out to Budapest airport authority that they might lose their current biggest customer- again. I guess that this is another way to get lower fares at an airport.
I believe that this fight is going to be a dirty, and a very interensting one.
I think it's quite funny how Wizz Air complained that the subsidies from the Hungarian government to Malev were illegal when their own business might risk the same faith. I guess it's karma doing it's own thing.
However, it's quite interesting that Ryanair got these documents just now. I wonder if those papers were faxed by someone who used to work for Malev.
dhr From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2007, 98 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (1 year 3 months 4 days 21 hours ago) and read 3336 times:
It's funny that Ryanair is complaining about foreign ownership in Wizzair. If I recall who the investors are, they are a US company named Indigo Partners, who are owned by TPG. Ryanair is also part owned by TPG and a very prominent Board member of Ryanair has associations with TPG. Now Ryanair shareholders should have a pretty good idea who the sharholders are because if these guys sold out their shares in Wizzair, then it would be these guys Ryanair mentions.
A little complicated, but interesting information.
shamrock604 From Ireland, joined Sep 2007, 4039 posts, RR: 13 Reply 4, posted (1 year 3 months 4 days 18 hours ago) and read 3070 times:
Quoting dhr (Reply 3): It's funny that Ryanair is complaining about foreign ownership in Wizzair. If I recall who the investors are, they are a US company named Indigo Partners, who are owned by TPG. Ryanair is also part owned by TPG and a very prominent Board member of Ryanair has associations with TPG. Now Ryanair shareholders should have a pretty good idea who the sharholders are because if these guys sold out their shares in Wizzair, then it would be these guys Ryanair mentions.
A little complicated, but interesting information.
Absolutely. There is far more to this than meets the eye. Ryanair and Wizzair have avoided each other rather studiously up to now. Ryanair have given no other airline such leeway in Europe up to now. They have fought easyjet, Norwegian, BmiBaby, Jet2, etc etc and mostly head on, on the same city pairs.
The space they have given Wizzair to expand is almost unprecedented.
Then, of course, there are issues of ownership of the two, which might suggest that the relationship is even cosier than it might first seem!
In any case, boo hoo Ryanair! They always claim they can beat anyone, offer lower fares than anyone else, and grow faster than anyone. Why they would feel the need to go crying to the courts is beyond me - they have always decried every other airline for doing the same.
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ju068 From Serbia, joined Aug 2009, 2579 posts, RR: 6 Reply 5, posted (1 year 3 months 4 days 11 hours ago) and read 2737 times:
Quoting shamrock604 (Reply 4): Why they would feel the need to go crying to the courts is beyond me - they have always decried every other airline for doing the same.
Maybe because in this case they are not fighting only the airline but the airport as well. With the possibility of Wizz Air getting in serious trouble they might finally get a favorable deal from Budapest airport.
This time, just like the last, Budapest airport refused to cooperate because they had alternatives. However with the case of Wizz Air's ownership being questioned, Budapest airport could potentially be running out of alternatives.
If Wizz Air really does have such problems and if they actually end up being closed down then the real winners will be Ryanair and the former employees of Malev.
shamrock604 From Ireland, joined Sep 2007, 4039 posts, RR: 13 Reply 6, posted (1 year 3 months 4 days 10 hours ago) and read 2622 times:
Quoting ju068 (Reply 5): If Wizz Air really does have such problems and if they actually end up being closed down then the real winners will be Ryanair and the former employees of Malev.
True, but what about the consumer who Ryanair just love to pretend to champion?
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PanHAM From Germany, joined May 2005, 7754 posts, RR: 26 Reply 8, posted (1 year 3 months 4 days 9 hours ago) and read 2558 times:
I doubt that Wizz Air will be closed down by the EU, this would be a long legal process and in the meantime they have the chance to change ownership so that it is in line with the legal requirements, if needed.
This may then end with a fine, not more. Would be interesting to know who the actual owners are, when I nread "Ukraine" there's one country that comes into my mind instantly, which starts with a I and end with an n.
ju068 From Serbia, joined Aug 2009, 2579 posts, RR: 6 Reply 11, posted (1 year 3 months 4 days 7 hours ago) and read 2301 times:
Quoting shamrock604 (Reply 10): Oh god no, I wouldnt wish that on the good people of Hungary
Haha me too actually. Though I was a fan of Malev I would still rather have Wizz Air than Ryanair dominate in the region- even if they were responsible for Malev's closure.
Quoting PanHAM (Reply 8): I doubt that Wizz Air will be closed down by the EU, this would be a long legal process and in the meantime they have the chance to change ownership so that it is in line with the legal requirements, if needed.
Not to mention the impact it would have on Eastern European economy! At least now we know why Ryanair avoided colliding with Wizz Air, or at least avoided from playing dirty for all this time. I guess that they have solved their little shareholder ''illegality'' and can now use it against their competitor.
bjorn14 From Norway, joined Feb 2010, 2776 posts, RR: 2 Reply 12, posted (1 year 3 months 4 days 5 hours ago) and read 2146 times:
Quoting flycro (Reply 1): If FR weren't worried about losing pax in Central and Eastern Europe they wouldn't be s**t stiring like this.
It's not really about losing pax per se, it's about crushing your competitor. If you can knock your opponent out of the game before it starts then by all (legal) means do it.
"An idea has to be incredibly absurd to have any reasonable chance of succeeding" --A. Einstein
krisyyz From Canada, joined Nov 2004, 1575 posts, RR: 0 Reply 13, posted (1 year 3 months 4 days 2 hours ago) and read 1923 times:
Quoting ju068 (Thread starter): It is interesting that it was Wizz Air who complained to the European Commission related to Malev's renationalization. I guess Ryanair is fighting fire with fire
You know what they say about payback......... I guess W6 is getting a taste of their own medicine, sort of.
However I'm not a fan of this type of aggressive business tactics. FR is obviously trying to take out their major competitor in the sky, as well as trying to solidify their new BUD base.
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