Europe's low cost airline, Ryanair Holdings has not been able to block a UK probe into its 30 per cent stake in another Irish carrier, Aer Lingus Group.

Ryanair Holdings has alleged that the UK probe violates a European Union review of plans into taking over the Irish carrier. However, the Court of Appeal ruled that the investigation by the U. K. Competition Commission does not overlap the EU's parallel review of Ryanair's bid in June into the purchase of Aer Lingus.

Judge Terence Etherton said in the ruling that, "Only the U. K. has jurisdiction in respect of Ryanair's minority shareholding," The Judge also said that the investigation does not go against the UK's legal duty to cooperate with the European Union. Rory Taylor, a spokesman for the London-based Competition Commission welcomed the ruling.

The European Commission had issued formal objections to a new deal by Ryanair to takeover Aer Lingus alleging that the combining of the two Dublin based carriers would impact competition climate. Aer Lingus and Ryanair, both believe that the deal is unlikely to be approved by the European regulators.

Ryanair has assured European regulators that there are radical remedies to address the concerns relating to lower competition. On the other hand, Aer Lingus indicated that the deal is headed for a failure. Ryanair already owns 30 percent of Aer Lingus.