Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary yesterday made a fresh attempt to force Aer Lingus to reverse its plan to scrap daily flights from Shannon to London Heathrow in December.
Mr O'Leary submitted a new motion to Aer Lingus yesterday calling on the airline to "preserve its existing profitable Shannon-Heathrow services and explore the €4 million a year of additional cost reductions recently identified by the Shannon Airport Authority to enhance shareholder returns".
He said he was hopeful that Aer Lingus would meet his latest request for an extraordinary general meeting.
Ryanair's latest move is a response to Aer Lingus's decision last Friday to reject a request Ryanair made in August for an egm to consider the matter.
Aer Lingus declined Ryanair's request on the grounds that such a move would infringe Irish and EU competition law.
In a three-page letter sent by Ryanair to Aer Lingus's chairman, John Sharman, Ryanair said that this claim was "absurd". It also accused the Aer Lingus board of directors of a "patent breach" of their obligations towards shareholders.
Any investor with a shareholding in a company of 10 per cent or greater is entitled to request an egm. Ryanair is Aer Lingus's biggest shareholder with a 29.44 per cent holding in the airline.
Aer Lingus plans to cease the Shannon-Heathrow route in December and operate a service from Belfast.
Aer Lingus declined to comment yesterday. It has 21 days to respond to Mr O'Leary's request, although it is not expected to take that length of time to lodge its reply.
Under company law, an egm must be convened within three months of yesterday's date.
At a lively press conference in the Alexander Hotel in Dublin yesterday Mr O'Leary said he felt that the Aer Lingus directors would "meet their statutory duty and call the egm". He said he was prepared to call the egm himself, as Ryanair was entitled to do, or take legal action against the directors and the airline. If Ryanair did call the egm, Mr O'Leary said he would charge the costs to Aer Lingus's directors.
Under that scenario he envisaged holding it in the Four Seasons or Shelbourne hotels, with a free bar for investors.
