Aer Lingus cautions government against offloading 25% stake

Aer Lingus recently cautioned the Irish government against selling its 25% stake to a big rival saying that this could have disastrous impact on the airline as its business model will be seriously undermined driving up costs and dismantling current partnerships.

Media reports quoting Ireland’s Transport Minister said that expressions of interest from various investment firms and airlines have been received by the Irish government to offload its 25% stake in Aer Lingus. However, the government is yet to decide whether to offload its 25% stake. The Irish government has indicated that if the right offer comes through it is still open to a sale.

Ryanair, the largest budget carrier in Europe and Irish rival of Aer Lingus, had earlier made takeover bids twice but finally failed in its attempt to acquire majority stakes in Aer Lingus.

Meanwhile, Aer Lingus recently announced the operational results for July as well as August 2011. The airline disclosed that that its passenger traffic and revenues have considerably risen in both months this year and indicated that the upward trend in airline’s fortunes is continuing through September also.

The airline provided details about its operational revenues and outlined that its passenger volumes had increased by 1.4% in the months of July and August as compared to the same period in 2010. The airline’s revenue also grew by 4.6%.