Ryanair still aiming to seal Aer Lingus takeover deal

RYANAIR hopes the Government’s financial woes will help the low-cost carrier finally seal a takeover of Aer Lingus, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has told a German newspaper.

Ryanair, which owns almost 30% of Aer Lingus, has tried twice to take over its rival but has struggled to overcome opposition from the Government, which holds a quarter of Aer Lingus.

“The Government is broke now, it has to sell its holdings. In the end, it will sell Aer Lingus as well,” O’Leary said in an interview published in daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung yesterday. It could cost as much as €50 billion, or over €11,000 per head of Ireland’s population, to unwind years of reckless lending to developers during the Celtic Tiger boom.