Aer Lingus is expected to announce within days its response to an application by Ryanair for an extraordinary general meeting (egm) of shareholders to discuss its controversial plan to end its Shannon-Heathrow service.
The matter was considered yesterday by the Aer Lingus board but a decision was not made.
The company did not issue any statement after the meeting.
There is a general belief that given Ryanair is the largest shareholder in Aer Lingus, with nearly 30 per cent of the stock, that it cannot refuse a request for a special meeting.
Ryanair has proposed two resolutions, effectively to reverse the decision by management to end the Shannon-Heathrow route and to scale back on services to Gatwick to facilitate the establishment of the Belfast base and the retention of the short-haul operation in Shannon.
However, sources said that it was likely that the board of Aer Lingus would make its own recommendation to shareholders that they reject the Ryanair resolutions.
It is understood that the board of the company yesterday considered various legal opinions on the Ryanair application.
There is concern in the former state airline that as Ryanair competes with Aer Lingus on the Dublin-Gatwick route, any scaling back of this service to allow for the retention of operations in Shannon, could have implications under competition law.
Aer Lingus has until early next week to respond to the application by Ryanair for an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to consider the Shannon issue.
Aer Lingus is expected to respond today to the Labour Court in relation to clarification sought by the trade union Impact on a recommendation which allowed the airline to pay local rates to staff recruited for bases established outside the Republic of Ireland.
Impact had asked the court whether it had been its intention that such a recommendation should include a base in Belfast.
The Labour Court had asked Aer Lingus for its comments on the request.
The Cabinet will also today consider the findings of a report by senior officials into the impact of the decision by Aer Lingus to withdraw from the Shannon-Heathrow route.
It is expected that the report is likely to conclude that Shannon airport is already well connected internationally.
The report may also propose ways to prioritise transport and infrastructure developments in the mid-west region.
The question of the impact on the loss of the Heathrow service on the mid-west is expected to be the subject of further research.
