Walsh: No need for State to keep Aer Lingus stake

FORMER Aer Lingus chief executive Willie Walsh has said he cannot understand why the Government is retaining a stake in the airline.

Mr Walsh, who left Aer Lingus to become chief executive of British Airways, said he would not be a buyer of shares in his former employer if they came on the market.

Aer Lingus is currently fighting in the European courts to force Ryanair to dispose of its 29% in the former national carrier.

But Mr Walsh said he would definitely not be interested in buying the shares if they became available, before questioning the Government’s rationale for maintaining its 25% stake.

“You have no liquidity in the shares. You have a government that should have sold everything,” Mr Walsh said.

Mr Walsh also gave his support for his former company’s decision to scrap its flights from Shannon Airport to London’s Heathrow.

Mr Walsh said it was a brave move by current Aer Lingus management and he suspects that part of the reason for the move was a decision by the Shannon Airport Authority to offer a favourable deal with Ryanair on airport charges.

“We did express concern when that was announced that it would impact Aer Lingus’ business as Ryanair would have significantly cheaper airport charges on routes that it was competing with Aer Lingus.”

Mr Walsh, who became chief executive of Aer Lingus in 2001, after the September 11 terrorist attacks nearly bankrupted the airline, said he had also considered opening a base in Belfast.

“When I was at Aer Lingus we looked at the possibility of starting operations in Belfast. If I had continued, I have not doubt that was exactly what I would have done,” he said.

However, he questioned Aer Lingus’ decision to start a route to Dubai, which was pulled after just a few years.

“I think it is always worth trying something new. We looked at Dubai when I was there but didn’t think traffic could support a service. It certainly ranked a lot lower than new transatlantic services.”