Politicians, hoteliers and unions all fear less competition for consumers

The Taoiseach, hotel industry representatives and a trade union are all expressing the same concern — that a Ryanair takeover of Aer Lingus would result in less competition for consumers.

Enda Kenny said the Government has concerns about the bid “in terms of competition, in terms of consumer facilities in terms of price and access to the country”.

He said the Cabinet would “give consideration to the bid” but that it has no power to block it because it is a minority shareholder. “We don’t have a veto on this, we don’t have any blocking rights,” Mr Kenny told the Dáil during leaders’ questions.

He also said the Government has not collectively considered the competition issues raised by the bid.

He was responding to the Fianna Fáil leader, Micheál Martin, who said it was extraordinary that the Government had not yet discussed concerns about competition.

“It is central to this in terms of the impact on the country and also on consumers and the creation of a monopoly position.’’

Fianna Fáil transport spokesperson, Timmy Dooley, said competitive air access is essential for business and tourism. “Anything that would consolidate those airlines would lead to reduced activity and increased fairs.”

Mr Dooley’s fears were echoed by the president of the Irish Hotels Federation Micheal Vaughan, who said that a consolidation of the two airlines would harm tourism. “As it stands, Ireland has already become overly reliant on Ryanair and Aer Lingus, which between them now account for almost 80% of traffic in to and out of Dublin. They are also the dominant players across Ireland’s regional airports. A takeover of Aer Lingus by Ryanair would only exacerbate the situation would not be aligned with the interests of the Irish economy.”

Trade union Impact, who represent 1,600 Aer Lingus pilots and cabin crew members and a number of pilots in Ryanair also called on the Government to consider the impact an acquisition could have on the economy.

In a letter to Transport Minister Leo Varadkar, Impact said: “In reaching a decision over the future ownership of Aer Lingus, Impact believes that the Irish Government must give full weight the competition issues and the potential impact of any proposed takeover on to the Irish economy and the Irish travelling public.”