Ryanair's takeover bid for Aer Lingus stalled yesterday as holders of less than 0.1 per cent of the company's shares had accepted its €2.80 a share bid as of Monday's deadline.

Ryanair - which has a 19.2 per cent stake in Aer Lingus - has now extended the period of its offer to December 4th. Some 504,994 shares have been declared in support of its offer, but this is from a total of 528 million shares in issue.

Ryanair did not make any comment yesterday on the bid's chances of success, but 47 per cent of Aer Lingus shareholders already oppose its offer. The key Employee Share Ownership Trust (Esot) - which owns just over 12 per cent - is currently balloting on the Ryanair offer, but most sources believe the group will resoundingly reject it.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary has acknowledged in recent weeks that without the Esot's support the bid has virtually no chance of success. At a recent press conference he said he now wanted investors to refocus on Ryanair's financial performance rather than the bid for its domestic rival.

The Aer Lingus share price is currently below the €2.80 bid level, but Ryanair has shown no sign so far of wanting to buy more shares.

Under the timetable set out under the rules of the Takeover Panel, Ryanair can increase its offer at any stage between now and December 8th. Some analysts believe it could easily manage a €3 or €3.20 bid based on its extensive cash resources. If Ryanair varies the offer, then the whole timetable starts again, which will drag the process into the new year.

If the offer is not varied then it will lapse on December 22nd, unless the company gets sufficient support to allow it to take its stake above 50 per cent. If this happens the offer will be declared unconditional.

If the bid lapses, then Ryanair cannot make another bid for several months. Mr O'Leary has said he is happy to be a significant minority shareholder in the company, although he is likely to oppose the new long-haul fleet deal planned by the airline.

Meanwhile residents in the affluent French town of Deauville are opposing plans by Ryanair to fly into the region. Residents in the area have signed a petition saying Ryanair's services could create noise and pollution.

l Meanwhile Ryanair's main rival in Europe, EasyJet, yesterday posted a 56 per cent increase in pretax profits and said it would expand its fleet with more Airbus planes as strong demand offsets higher fuel costs.

The results from EasyJet, Europe's second-largest budget carrier after Ryanair, received a mixed welcome from analysts.

EasyJet said pretax profit for the year to end-September 2006 were £129 million (€191 million), up from £83 million a year ago.

EasyJet converted options on 52 A319 aircraft into orders and took options over a further 75 A320 aircraft, bringing the value of planes it has on firm order to more than $4 billion.

Chief executive Andy Harrison said the orders would underpin plans to expand capacity by 15 per cent this year.

Timetable of Ryanair offer

The revised closing time for acceptances is 3pm on December 4th

The offer cannot be revised or changed after December 8th

It lapses after December 22nd, unless Ryanair has acceptances giving it more than 50 per cent. It has previously become unconditional.