Malaysia Airlines has poached Peter Bellew of Ryanair to serve as its chief operations officer.

The Government has given the green light for its sale in Aer Lingus, six football officials have been arrested and detained in Switzerland ahead of the Fifa congress in Zurich, 100 new jobs set for Cork in a cyber security firm and the RubberBandits help launch the Limerick European Capital of Culture 2020 campaign. These are some of the latest and most read news stories on irishexaminer.com this morning.

The most powerful independent consumer voice in the country has voiced an 11th-hour warning about the future of Aer Lingus, as the Government late last night endorsed the takeover offer by Willie Walsh’s IAG Group.

The proposed takeover of Aer Lingus has been boosted after the airline’s board insisted the buyout made compelling commercial sense.

Aer Lingus directors have released a statement saying there is a "compelling commercial logic" to allowing a takeover from IAG to buy the airline.

Regional airline Flybe today warned demand for leisure travel has slumped as the consumer spending squeeze moves in on the airline industry.