The LHR slots are less relevant now than they were at the time of Aer Lingus'
privatisation. The industry has completely changed, and even the Irish aviation
scene has changed dramatically. Not only do Irish people have increased access
to other major European hubs such as Frankfurt, but they also have the choice of
the Middle Eastern hubs (Dubai and Abu Dhabi). Given the ever hardening
relationship between Aer Lingus and BA recently, Aer Lingus have also made
attempts to reduce their dependence on BA for feeder traffic. So I wouldn't go
as far as to say LHR slots are the life blood of Irish aviation, they're
important but they don't hold anywhere near the importance that they once held.
While the BA-EI has been weaking for some time now and the rise of Eithad/Emirates has taken traffic away from BA/LHR, the LHR-DUB remains the 3rd Busiest rute out of LHR, if the route remains profitable, I doubt if BA pull out of DUB altogether
Nothing will cahnce on that reguard even if EI pulls out of LHR, in fact it might improve yields...
FR bid is dead in the water and MOL is really struggling to keep the door
open for his appeal on the decision.
I would not think so, like Godzilla, its keeps coming back...
Even if he loses this attempt, FR/MOL will be back...
I am not convinced politics doesnt play a part in any competition decision
here and even the UK authorities are looking at FR interest in EI
The Irish government might be againt it, but the problem is times have changed, the term "national/flag carrier" is not relevent anymore, EI should fight this takeover (and look for a white knight), but it cannot expect help from any European Government (not even the Irish one, they can't buy FR's stake in EI, not unless the EU relaxes its austerity measures)
however maybe I am wrong time will tell but there is a compelling need to keep
one of the very few profitable shorthaul airlines in Europe on one of the
busiest routes in order to compete with FR
BA taking over EI LHR slots and FR the rest of EI would not stop competition on LON-DUB/IRE, even if BA CityFlyer buys CityJet
BA cannot compete on shorthaul to ROI with FR , EI can and this competition
has to be protected and I believe EU will not want to see take away the healthy
competion between two profitable Iirsh airlines .
Yes that its true to a extent, but they already compete with FR on the LON-DUB route and they seem to be fine (they focus on diffrent sectors of the market)
Remember there is a lot of comptition on the LON-DUB route already, remember we already compete in a European Air Market, the airlines that compete don't have to be Irish
Overall however, the best airline for EI is not FR, but BA/IAG...