SENIOR MEMBERS of Aer Lingus’s board of directors will meet today with Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey to outline their opposition to Ryanair’s latest offer for the airline.

It is understood that Aer Lingus chairman Colm Barrington and chief executive Dermot Mannion will meet the Minister this afternoon in Leinster House to outline the reasons why the Government should oppose Ryanair’s offer, which was made on December 1st.

Aer Lingus is likely to highlight the fact that Ryanair’s €748 million offer significantly undervalues the airline, which has almost €800 million in net cash on its balance sheet, as well as valuable landing slots at Heathrow, 42 aircraft and other assets.

Aer Lingus’s share price is also now trading at an 8.6 per cent premium to Ryanair’s €1.40 a share bid.

The Aer Lingus board members are also expected to stress that, in their view, a merger of the two Irish airlines would be detrimental to the interests of consumers here.

Between them, Aer Lingus and Ryanair account for about 75 per cent of traffic at Dublin airport and would also make up the majority of traffic at Shannon and Cork.

Mr Dempsey is expected to be accompanied at the meeting by Julie O’Neill, secretary general of the department, and other officials. It is not clear if the Minister will give any indication of the Government’s position on Ryanair’s offer. To date, he has retained a “neutral” stance to the merger and said he will wait until Ryanair publishes its full offer document before making any comment.

Mr Dempsey met last week with Ryanair’s chief executive Michael O’Leary. The Ryanair boss used the meeting to offer additional guarantees to the Government in relation to its merger proposal. These included restoring the Shannon-Heathrow route and giving the Government control over the Aer Lingus slots at Heathrow. Mr O’Leary also said he would recognise trade unions at Aer Lingus. In addition, Ryanair said it would post separate €100 million bank guarantees payable to the Government if it does not follow through on its commitment to cut Aer Lingus’s short-haul fares by 5 per cent annually for three years and abolish its fuel surcharge on transatlantic routes.

Aer Lingus’s share price closed down yesterday at €1.52.