Government formally accepts IAG offer for Aer Lingus share

The Government has formally accepted the IAG offer for its share in Aer Lingus after the airline’s shareholders backed guarantees around continued connectivity with Heathrow.

The Government had a mandate from the Dáil to sell its share in Aer Lingus, but that mandate could only be acted upon once the airline shareholders gave approval to connectivity terms hammered out with IAG.

The connectivity commitments were essentially twofold — Aer Lingus would always own the Heathrow slots and it would not be able to change the usage of the slots for at least seven years.