It's certainly a possibility and it may even come down to that; i.e. do you wait until the new routes have started before you start looking? If you do, you may open the new opportunities to other carriers? Conversely, if you do acquire them before you need them, it may be hard to find those charter routes, or at least routes which can pay their way.
It must be an intensely frustrating situation for them. If Aer Lingus can get its act together as regards costs and get a fleet in place to take advantage of the new growth opportunities, it stands to be one of the most successful and fastest growing t/a operations. Unfortunately, if it's stopped at every corner; if it pulls out of routes instead of growing and if it can't plan for fleet growth because of uncertainty over when it will get rights, it could be a big loser.
Worse still, one of the biggest obstacles appears - even now - to be its shareholder. I hope DM knows what he's letting himself in for.