WHat would be point of buying Aerlingus, if they wanted covert it into Ryanair?

Besides, if they won’t buy it, someone else will. Aealingus is just too small to compete with other giants. And would be nice to keep it in Ireland, wouldn’t ?

Ryanair is only Irish in base! Almost everything else about it is foreign! It’s Irish workforce is minute, it’s largest base is in the UK and its listed on the UK stock exchange so don’t be fooled that it would be buying Irish!

Also think of the monopoly it would hold resulting in increased cost of flying!

Personally I would prefer to see Aer Lingus majority owned by the likes of BA, Etihad or similar. Full service airlines which could use Aer Lingus and Dublin as important strategic hubs! Far better for Aer Lingus and the Irish market by far!

The monopoly would be terrible for the consumer unless some stipulations were put in place I doubt that’s allowed though.

@ Tony , Ryanair is very Irish headquartered in Dublin, with a far from minute workforce , their entire management structure is Irish and they pay their taxes in Ireland . of course their biggest base is the UK the UK has like 15 times our population and Ryanair carry more people than BA.

The problem I see is I don’t know if anyone else will be able to (or interested in) buying iag/BA wouldn’t be allowed with the Heathrow slots, and any other European airline either already has A massive fleet like luftansa or is losing money hand over fist like Air France /KLM ..

Well said Tony

Don’t forget ryanair are cheaper

Not by much when you add in all the extras that you have to take into account on a Ryanair flight and the loss of time in actually getting to your destination.

Leaving that aside there is not way an Aer Lingus/Ryanair deal will be good for this country. We’re constantly trying to stop people having monopolies in media and communications and other areas of public life, why does anybody think a monopoly in aviation transport would be better than competition.

A merger would also give Ryanair far too much power in its dealings with airport authorities in Ireland. They’d practically be able to dictate their terms because if an aiport didn’t back down they could end up losing both Ryanair and Aer Lingus services. No one company should have that much power

Audrius, Your comment is very childish! Do you know anything about Aer Lingus’ or Ryanair’s Aircraft Fleets? Aer Lingus mostly fly Airbus A320-200s on their domestic routes; Aer Lingus A320-200 can carry 174 passengers (all Economy) every seat has a 30″ pitch and are 18″ wide. Ryanair’s entire fleet is composed of Boeing 737-800 they can accomade 189 passengers and every seat has a 30″ pitch and are 17″ wide. Ryanair have one of the newest aircraft fleets in Europe. I fly regularly on both Aer Lingus and Ryanair. Both carriers charge for checked baggage, for choosing seats, both have credit/debit card charges when booking online, neither offer complimentary in flight food/beverages. Personally I don’t see much difference between either carrier (I think Aer Lingus provide complimentary Newspapers) I much prefer Ryanair because you can show up for the flight 30mins or less before departure so no cueing up to get boarding pass (very convenient for regular Business Travelers). I’ve been refused to check in for an Aer Lingus flight 1hr before it departed because apparently their system doesn’t allow check-ins an hour before the flight, Ridiculous!

Fleet Detail Source:

http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Aer_Lingus/Aer_Lingus_Airbus_A320.php

http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Ryanair/Ryanair_Boeing_737-800.php

Aidan, I don’t know how often you fly but Aer Lingus are quite frequently cheaper and they also fly you direct to central airports unlike Ryanair who land in the middle of nowhere. Plus Ryanair get subsidies from the airports and coach companies that they use, so a percentage of the coach ticket you buy goes to Ryanair. All in all, an extra few quid (sometimes) for Aer Lingus will get you to a central location faster.

Explain why it “needs” to be sold?

If the shareholders like the offer Aer Lingus have to sell. All public companies are always for sale. Thats how the stockmarkets work.nnGivien the various airline takeovers and mergers that have occurred in Europe in the past five years it is possible that Ryanair might get the go ahead this time.nnA more likely scenario is that Ranair’s tactic is to flush out alternative bidders to allow it to offload it’s shares at a reasonable price. Analysts will place a much higher value on Aer Lingus when the defence document is issued. The AL balance sheet carries over €800 million cash. Add to that the net value of fixed assets and the sale value of it’s Heathrow slots and you are up to well over €2 per share. On top of that because AL is profitable you can add a multiple of net annual earnings. nnUnless there are significant liabilities hidden away Ryanair are looking at a value of € 2.50 a share which will give them most of their money back.

As Ben Gunn said above, it’s a public company, so it is being traded. Also, the government are now committed to selling their stake, and a proportion of shareholders will piggyback on the sale when it happens.

He already has changed the world.

The only real alternative is that another prospective buyer comes out of the shadows. Sadly, this doesn’t seen likely at this time.

The only real alternative is that another prospective buyer comes out of the shadows. Sadly, this doesn’t seen likely at this time.