AER LINGUS has failed in its bid to have voting rights removed from Ryanair's 29.44 per cent shareholding in the airline.

In a statement released last night, Aer Lingus said the president of the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg had declined its request for an interim order "restricting Ryanair from interfering in the running of Aer Lingus's business".

Ryanair's attempt to acquire Aer Lingus was blocked last summer by the European Commission. The commission, however, said it did not have the power to force Ryanair to sell its shares in Aer Lingus.

That ruling was appealed by Aer Lingus to the Luxembourg court. Ryanair also appealed the commission's decision to block its takeover bid.

As it could take up to two years to receive a ruling on either matter, Aer Lingus lodged an interim motion seeking to have Ryanair stripped of its voting rights.

This would have prevented Michael O'Leary from calling an extraordinary general meeting, as he sought to do last year on the Shannon-Heathrow slots issue, and from attempting to block motions brought by Aer Lingus's board.

The rejection of Aer Lingus's interim motion is a blow to chief executive Dermot Mannion. Aer Lingus said it was "reviewing" the ruling but it is understood there is no avenue of appeal.

Ryanair welcomed the ruling. "The European Commission had already found that we didn't have any control over Aer Lingus, so their appeal of that decision didn't make much sense," said head of regulatory affairs Jim Callaghan.