Ryanair told it will face OFT inquiry

THE Office of Fair Trading (OFT) yesterday told Ryanair it is still timely to review the Irish airline's acquisition of a minority stake in rival Aer Lingus.

Ryanair had challenged the OFT's decision in October to launch an investigation into the stake, which was built up between September 2006 to August 2007. But the OFT said it had been forced to wait for the end of a European Commission investigation before launching its inquiry.