A White Knight for АэроЛингус
I’ve no problem with the concept of a major, world-scale international airline operating from Ireland, under the ownership and management of Ryanair. I greatly admire Tony Ryan and his management team. Let’s hope that they continue their loyalty to this country and not move the whole show off to some Eastern outpost of the EU.
But if Aer Lingus and the national interest requires that a white knight be found and be encouraged to bid against Michael O’Leary, then there can hardly be a more suitable candidate than Aeroflot. This airline, which used to be the world’s largest in terms of passenger miles flown (and maybe other metrics), and is still by far Russia’s largest and best managed airline, can bring synergy to Aer lingus and our nation like no other possible candidate can. And, it has a long history of happy collaboration with the Irish authorities, notably Aer Rianta
A purchase of Aer Lingus by British Airways or most other candidates from Europe or the US, if any, who already operate in Ireland, would serve to reduce competition on Irish routes. And long haul airlines who do not operate here currently, like Emirates or Singapore, would see little benefit for them in a purchase. But Aeroflot is different…..
OK, they can fly direct from Moscow to New York right now but not from many of their central Russia destinations, such as Ekaterineburg or Novosibirsk. For those routes a refueling stopover in Shannon could be important. But they’ve already had that you say…..well, that’s not the main thing, actually. More interesting would be Novosibirsk>> Shannon (or Dublin) and >> onwards to Manchester, Glasgow, and other feeder locations and sources, for the Irish “hub”. Currently Aeroflot are rather restricted in their EU operations, effectively having no rights to operate internally, between European cities. But as an Irish airline, АэроЛингус should have freedom of the European skies.
The likelihood is that AeroLingus would substantially increase the number of passengers transiting Ireland and paying for that new air terminal that their friends in Aer Rianta are proposing to build. And, of course, Shannon’s fortunes would be revived……the West would be saved. Indeed, considering that few other airlines have any interest in Shannon, AeroLingus would have it virtually to itself, as a private airport (after the troops leave, of course).
Then, the other aspect………….what’s the greatest medium- even short- term threat to international aviation? Why, the energy crisis, of course. The cost and scarcity of fuel, especially for transportation. Considering how dependent our nation is on imported energy, it would be a great boon, or at least a nice stroke, if our “national” carrier, АэроЛингус, had the luxury of rather cheap fuel supplies available to it from its own sources. Such an advantage to a competitor might even make Michael O’Leary run to Bertie and demand “fair” treatment !
Can it be that our national, and commercial, interests in Tourism, Transport and Energy all converge at this time, to validate this one best solution?
(Next, perhaps, in this series : A deeper collaboration with strategic partners from Russia, to keep the Celtic Tiger going through the energy crisis: refining Russian oil in Whitegate, storing it in Bantry and selling Bord Gais to Gazprom)
October 9th, 2006 at 5:45 pm
Well put. Would be a good idea if this is published in the papers or at least taken up by some Journalist to put forward to the general public as a possible alternative toa RyanAir takeover of Aer Lingus. Send it to Shane Ross in the Sunday Indo!