Ireland’s entire economy will benefit if the International Airlines Group (IAG) takes over Aer Lingus, the Irish carrier’s outgoing chief executive has predicted.
Christoph Mueller, who steps down as CEO of the airline this week, said IAG’s €1.4bn (£1.02bn) offer to buy Aer Lingus would be the biggest single foreign investment in the Republic since the financial crash.
Mueller said that there was “a great deal of excitement” that Aer Lingus would be able to create jobs on a much larger scale if IAG, the owners of British Airways, took charge of the former state-run airline.
He also stressed that talks between IAG and the Aer Lingus trade unions had been “very constructive”.
Aer Lingus announced on Tuesday that its profits had risen by almost 18%
to €72m from the previous year. Total revenue was up by 9.2%. For the first time in the airline’s history the number of passengers has exceeded 11 million.
On the hike in profits and the IAG takeover proposal, Mueller added: “We profitably expanded our long-haul network utilising our cost advantage and favourable geographic position and helped establish Dublin as the 7th largest European hub for transatlantic connections.
“Our short-haul business continued to demonstrate its resilience despite a highly competitive market. Commercial initiatives, in addition to cost control, led to the highest operating profit since the financial crisis and 17.8% above last year.”
Opposition to the sale is centred on Irish Labour deputies in the Dáil, in particular those in north Dublin worried about job losses. Some unions have claimed that up to 1,000 jobs could be lost if the sale to IAG goes ahead. IAG chief executive and former Aer Lingus boss, Willie Walsh, met with unions representing workers at the airline on Monday.
Former Labour cabinet minister Pat Rabbitte has now backed the proposed sale to IAG while the current government has yet to make up its mind about selling its 25% stake in Aer Lingus. The Fine Gael-Labour coalition’s decision on whether or not to sell its share could prove the deal-maker or deal-breaker for IAG’s plans.
