Ryanair hoping to land Gatwick slots opened up by Aer Lingus sale

Ryanair has confirmed it will bid for Gatwick slots to be freed up as a condition of the Aer Linguse sale to the IAG group.

Responding on Wednesday to a decision by the European Commission to allow the sale, Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe said not only would he expect the Gatwick routes to be maintained, but anticipated competition for them.

Permission granted for the €1.3 billion disposal by the Commission - the final hurdle in a protracted bid process by IAG, the parent company of British Airways and Iberia - was confirmed on Tuesday.

As a condition, the company committed to putting up for sale five pairs of landing slots at London Gatwick, connecting Dublin and Belfast.

An Aer Lingus EGM is scheduled for Thursday in which the sale will be rubberstamped and legal guarantees the Government had secured on other slots in Heathrow will be ratified as part of the articles of association of the company, Mr Donohoe said.

“I expect that will happen tomorrow and then shortly after that it will be up to all shareholders to make clear if they want to accept the offer that is being put down by IAG.”

Speaking at a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary welcomed the sale of Gatwick capacity.

“We will certainly be bidding for the slots and we would certainly want to expand services we offer at Gatwick,” he said. Ryanair had already indicated it would accept IAG’s offer for its 30 per cent holding in Aer Lingus.

The takeover had been conditional on the backing of Ryanair and the Irish government, which agreed to sell its 25 percent stake in May.

In that regard, Mr Donohoe said the sanctioned move by the Commission was “a landmark moment in the overall process”.

“The Commission have made clear that they would look for access on those routes, in other words the route between Dublin, Gatwick and Belfast to be maintained,” he said.

“So they are looking potentially for other airlines to be involved in delivering those services so I have absolutely every confidence that they will be maintained in the future, in fact that we will see more competition on them.”