The Irish government backs the sale of 25% stake in Aer Lingus to IAG

The Irish government has backed the sale of its 25 per cent stake in Aer Lingus to International Airlines Group, parent company of British Airways and Spain’s Iberia.  At the end, the fatal attraction of plugging Ireland’s national career into a far bigger network and diverting passengers who might have once travelled via London Heathrow through Dublin and Shannon.

The promise on jobs, Irish routs and growth that made the cabinet to support IAG’s 1.35bn bid for Aer Lingus.

 

Willie Walsh IAG’s Dublin-born chief executive,  has promised to create 150 jobs at Aer Lingus by the end of next year and assurances on growth and promotion of Shannon, Cork and Knock airports. He also promised to retain 23 take-off and landing slots at Heathrow for Irish routes over the next seven years and make Ireland a natural gateway for transatlantic routes and drip feeding UK passengers into Aer Lingus network,  a project 2.4m extra passengers by 2020.