Airline can handle €191m payment

Stock market analysts believe Aer Lingus’s balance sheet is "more than strong enough" to accommodate the €191m once-off payment to its pension scheme, recommended by an expert group appointed to analyse how to address the €700m deficit in the scheme.

The analysts warned that a successful resolution to the long-running pensions dispute could still face stumbling blocks with union approval needed, as well as potential for a legal challenge to the proposal from existing pensioners.

The membership of the Irish Airlines Superannuation Scheme is made up of current and retired workers in Aer Lingus and the Dublin Airport Authority as well as workers who have left the companies but not yet retired.