Ryanair drops interest as Aer Lingus loses €93m

RYANAIR will not bail out Aer Lingus with a new takeover bid in spite of the rival airline posting record €93 million losses.

With Aer Lingus losing €19 per passenger in the first six months of 2009, a Ryanair source said it was not in its interest to bid for the former national airline in its current financial state, though officially the airline said it had no comment to make.

Aer Lingus admitted its outlook was “uncertain” and blamed the huge dip in profits on loss of consumer confidence, the collapse of the economy and the imposition of the €10 passenger departure tax. The airline said it must press ahead with an “exhaustive and wide-ranging” examination of its operations and revenue stream.