Getting this over the line will be very difficult.
If slots must be given because of competition then it's likely BA will have to give them up and not take them out of EIs pairs and many other problems will need to be addressed.
Maybe go through the motions, probably slots from BA and EI. No one is likely to take it up after VS's experience, so it would be academic.
BA (nor EI) won't be forced to give up LHR slots by default.
What will probably happen (based on precedent set by IAG's purchase of bmi) is BA/EI will have to surrender a set number of slots (say six pairs) to any willing entrant on LHR-DUB (ditto for Belfast).
Based on the experience of Little Red, it's unlikely that an entrant will be forthcoming.
I don't buy the idea that IAG will slash connectivity between Ireland and the UK.
Makes sense.
One of the first things IAG will do is, as soon as regulatory approval allows, put the EI code on every BA long-haul route. And vice versa. Ditto for Iberia at MAD.
Yes this is what BA and IB did with eachother. Would imagine EI would also join the Avios scheme and the Oneworld alliance soon as.
FR have said they would likely take on LHR if they were forced to give up slots.
FR has also said that it will
never operate flights to/from Heathrow, Paris De Gaulle and Frankfurt.
That is believable: too many delays at Heathrow, both landing and takeoff; taxi times are too long; 25 minute turnarounds are not possible; no dedicated "no frills" terminal; contact gates have to be used (mostly).
Doesn't fit the FR model: FR doesn't make money with its aircraft stuck on the ground, so don't believe it for a minute.