Aer Lingus needs �merger� as revenue falls 16%

AER Lingus must consider a merger to avoid becoming another Waterford Wedgwood as revenue plunged 16% in the first three months of the year.

Aviation analyst Joe Gill made this comment after Aer Lingus announced it was reviewing the size of its long and short-haul operations after passenger numbers fell 6.5% to just over two million in the three months to the end of March 2009. Short-haul numbers fell 5.7% and long haul dropped 12.5%.

Aer Lingus shares, which are down 62% this year, fell 19% to 56 cent yesterday, a fifth of what they were when Ryanair first made a bid for the airline in 2006.