Implications Of Aer Lingus Being Taken Over By British Airways

I was wondering if this would come to pass. Without a doubt, the LHR slots are a huge part of this. Another interesting thing from a "soap opera" perspective is that Etihad owns, I believe, about 5% of Aer Lingus. So there are lots of interesting players in this ownership group. It's not beyond imagining that EY wanted to make a move to buy a majority position in EI as well - which would have put them in control of all of those LHR slots AND solidify Dublin as a transatlantic hub. None of that would be good news for BA/IAG.

@Stuart - if they want to screw with IAG, then sure they can, but not really that useful from a business perspective except for the LHR slots perhaps.

This will be awful as the IAG degradation of service and standards - just look at what is happening at BA - will clearly happen at EI as well. Eventually EI will disappear. It will be a sad day if this goes through.

Is there a possibility they will eventually completely merge EI into BA in terms of branding?

@Andreas: unlikely, as the separate brand allows them to fly long haul from DUB. I see the acquisition as BA/IAG getting runway capacity that they not been able to get at LHR/LGW for many years (I'm oversimplifying in the interest of brevity).

@ Andreas -- In theory I suppose that's possible, as BA did with bmi. That being said, I think it's unlikely. The company has enough of its own identity, and if anything I think BA would benefit from having Aer Lingus operate in a similar fashion to how they are now.

I guess this is probably why their Chief Executive decides to take a new job.

How do I feel? Incredibly bummed. I was hoping to use Aer Lingus to fly to Dublin using Avios in 2016, and if the fuel surcharges change as you predict, I would have to find another airline to fly on. I was looking forward to flying into Dublin. 🙁

Less competition in the marketplace always screws the consumer. If this goes through it will be the end of cheap flights BOS-DUB once BA gets their grubby hands on things and starts charging YQ.

I can't believe anybody hasn't posted this yet 🙂

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAg0lUYHHFc

But in all seriousness. This is all about IHG pushing the lack of runway space in London back up the election agenda,

@Ken: if IAG keep the companies separate then those cheap flights won't necessarily go away. Vueling are still cheap.

As a primarily United flyer this would be a disaster. After loosing British Midland it took a long time to recover with Aer Lingus. This would be another kick in the teeth for *A travelers in western Europe.

What if you already have tickets with Aer Lingus. If the takeover goes through will they be honored as is or will surcharges apply? Are there fuel surcharges if you don't go through Heathrow?

@ Debbie P. -- Yes, all tickets will absolutely be honored. And fuel surcharges have nothing to do with Heathrow, only the airline.

As an interested ex-heavy user of EI and Irish citizen, this is fascinating to watch. I wouldn't worry too much about it though for now - this a politically explosive issue (coming as it does on the back of a lot of national asset sell-offs already the last few years and as we approach Govt. elections within the next year) and the Govt. certainly won't want to make a firm decision on this with any haste - or probably, at all, if they can avoid it.

That said, IAG wants EI for a reason one way or the other; having offered 5-year slot guarantees and a veto on their use other than for Irish flights, BA would almost certainly be pulling the rug on their own Dublin flights either way. Could they possibly be considering using Dublin and EI as a lower-cost proposition for customers heading t/atlantic what with Heathrow capacity constraints and high passenger charges, freeing up Heathrow for higher fare traffic or those who'll pay a good bit more for direct/BA brand?

@Andreas "is there a possibility they will eventually completely merge EI into BA in terms of branding?"

That will never happen, Politically removing the "Aer Lingus" brand and replacing it with the "British Airways" brand would generate more hostility in Ireland than BA would want and Willie Walsh, being Irish fully understands the dynamics of a decision like this.

To understand fully why this will never happen requires a small understanding of Irish history