The government of Ireland is, again, pondering the sale of its part of Aer Lingus but has already indicated that Ryanair would be rebuffed as a buyer on competitive grounds.  Ryanair is offended but says it may consider selling its own stake in Aer Lingus to the right buyer as well.

Now to find a right buyer.  Part of me wonders if the International Airlines Group aka British Airways/Iberia would be interested.  Aer Lingus isn’t a global partner in anything but it could provide some European consolidation that might benefit all parties.  Past IAG, I cannot see who would be interested in owning what they can more profitably compete against.

Another part of why I believe IAG might be interested in IAG’s CEO:  Willie Walsh.  He came up in the airline busines at Aer Lingus.  He knows its strengths and weaknesses and he successfully competed against Ryanair while he led that airline.

Filed under: Airline News by ajax