The Minister for Transport says he expects a formal decision by the European Commission on a Ryanair bid to takeover Aer Lingus by the end of the month.

Yesterday Ryanair said the Commission had told the airline that it intends to reject the bid.

The low-cost airline has said it intends to appeal the decision which it described as a "political" one.

Ryanair's Robin Kiely said yesterday "It appears clear from this morning’s meeting, that no matter what remedies Ryanair offered, we were not going to get a fair hearing and were going to be prohibited regardless of competition rules".

"This decision is clearly a political one to meet the narrow, vested interests of the Irish Government and is not based on competition law" he added.

Takeover 'not in country's interests'

Ryanair had offered to eliminate all competitive overlapping routes between the two carriers.

It says airline group IAG had committed to take over Ryanair’s and Aer Lingus’ entire London-Gatwick operations, and Flybe had also committed to take over 43 Aer Lingus UK and European routes.

Minister Leo Varadkar says the government has made its views on the bid clear to the Commission.