Aer Lingus has made no decision on what it intends to do with its 0.1 per cent stake in the international airline reservations system Galileo which is is being floated on the New York Stock Exchange. a spokesman for Aer Lingus has stated. Based on the offer price of $24.50 per share, Aer Lingus's stake in Galileo is worth $2.45 million (£1.7 million). Aer Lingus is one of eleven airlines which has a stake in Galileo, although the biggest stakes are held by airline giants such as British Airways, KLM, United Airlines, USAir and Swissair.

The company was formed in 1993 after the merger of the European Galileo network with the American Covia-Apollo reservations system and was valued at $1.5 billion at the time. Galileo has sales of almost $1.1 billion At the time, it claimed to be the first global computer reservations system. Since then, the Galileo business has been strengthened by the fact that its owners are among its biggest customers. Galileo provides travel agencies and other subscribers with fare information and booking and ticketing facilities for 525 airlines, 48 car rental compa- nies and 220 hotel chains.

Its main rivals are the Amadeus network - owned by Lufthansa and Air France - and Sabre - an American group that was floated on the the New York market last year.