Ryanair ups ante in Aer Lingus bid

Ryanair is offering Flybe Group €100m and use of Aer Lingus’s brand name for three years in a bid to secure EU consent to complete its €800m takeover of the national airline.

In a final bid to win EU competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia’s approval to take over Aer Lingus, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary is offering unprecedented concessions to secure his plans to purchase the carrier. The commission has set a Mar 6 deadline for its decision.

The Irish Examiner has confirmed that Ryanair is prepared to concede as much as 50% of Aer Lingus’s profitability to Flybe and British Airways.