IAG is expected to outline its plans for Aer Lingus next week in response to the special committee set up by the Government to advise it on the bid. It will say that it plans not only to maintain connectivity from Ireland but to build it significantly for customers and cargo traffic, benefiting tourism and trade.
In addition to guaranteeing Heathrow slots for five years from Dublin, Cork and Shannon, IAG will promise to build traffic volumes in and out of Ireland. It will outline its intention to run more direct flights from Dublin to a range of destinations, as well as routing traffic from Dublin – as a hub in its own right – through its existing hubs in Heathrow and Madrid, the latter providing a gateway to Latin America.
There have been clear indications from Government sources in recent weeks that, because of political sensitivities, a sale of the 25 per cent stake was unlikely to go ahead.
In trying to combat this, IAG will seek to highlight a growth agenda for Aer Lingus as it goes public for the first time with details of its strategy, arguing that it could provide a significant boost for tourism and trade and underpin investment in the FDI sector by building cargo links.
IAG will commit to developing access to North America, working through its joint venture with US carrier American Airlines, which has eight hubs there. It will point to its existing links for customer and cargo traffic with major multinational customers, many of them already with bases here.
IAG has faced a cool political reception for its bid, with transport minister Pascal Donohue expressing reservations after IAG representatives met the committee of officials and advisers on Wednesday. The committee is thought to have asked for other information from IAG and in response the airline group is likely to outline its strategy.
It has sought to meet Government concerns over the ownership of 23 landing slots in Heathrow with a mechanism which allows the government, acting with chambers of commerce in Dublin, Shannon and Cork, to block sale of these slots.
IAG argues that this, together with a five-year commitment to maintain the slots for use from the three Irish airports, would give the Government more influence than it has at present. However, Government and opposition backbenchers and local interests continue to express concern.
