Aer Lingus Says No to Ryanair Bid (Again)
Posted on December 16, 2008 by Fiona Hilliard
How many knock backs can a man take? Michael O’ Leary seems determined to find out.
Aer Lingus yesterday shot down Ryanair’s formal €748 million bid for the airline, saying it would create a monopoly on flights travelling to and from Ireland.Â
O’ Leary is not taking the rejection lying down however. Already he is arguing that the price being offered is 25% higher than the value of Aer Lingus on November 28, the day before Ryanair announced its plan to make a bid for the carrier.Â
He says if the sale goes ahead, he’ll run Aer Lingus separately, maintain the airline’s brand and guarantee its Heathrow slots.Â
He also promised he would double Aer Lingus’ short haul fleet, creating 1,000 jobs and would slash short haul fares by 5% on average for three years.Â
The Ryanair boss also warned there would be further consolidation of the airline industry in the near future and predicted that Europe would eventually only have four airlines – Ryanair, Air France, Lufthansa, Air France/KLM and British Airways.
Written by Fiona Hilliard
About the Author: Fiona likes to travel – especially to cities. Her favourites include: New York, London, Copenhagen, Madrid and Lisbon.
She doesn't like flying with budget airlines, baggage restrictions, liquid restrictions, airport security queues… Related Posts
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