IAG sweetens Aer Lingus bid to win over Irish government

IAG, the owner of British Airways which is currently trying to take over Aer Lingus, outlined plans on Monday to safeguard the future of the Dublin-based airline in an effort to win over the Irish government.

IAG needs approval from the Irish government, alongside other investors such as Ryanair, to secure that its €1.36bn takeover offer for Aer Lingus gets the green light.

While Aer Lingus itself said last week it was willing to recommend the offer to shareholders, Ireland owns 25% of Aer Lingus and political concerns have presented hurdles for the deal.

IAG has now come up with a list of things to convince the Irish government, with chief executive Willie Walsh assuring that his company is "committed to maintaining and strengthening Aer Lingus".

"In seeking the support of the Irish government, we propose to offer it legally binding commitments that go well beyond the protections currently available to it," Walsh said.

Under its proposed commitments, IAG has promised not to sell Aer Lingus' 23 slot pairs at Heathrow airport, or change Aer Lingus' name, head office location or place of incorporation in the Republic of Ireland. IAG also offered to operate slots on Irish routes for five years.

Walsh added that these commitments "would give the Irish government an important role that they do not have today in securing the future of Aer Lingus".