Ryanair knows it's chances of success as this is the third time they try to take over Aer Lingus. The Irish government is also due to sell the states 25% stake in the airline, and it is unlikely that Ryanair will be the company they want to sell at. Seeing that Ryanair owns already just under 30% of the company, this has kept many urging [ incl. the UK ] that Ryanair has too much influence on a daily basis at Aer Lingus. Anyway, even when Ryanair would succeed in securing over 50% of shares available in Aer Lingus it is unlikely that the EU, Irish government and the competition authorities give a green light to this merger as Ryanair / Aer Lingus would control over 80% of the aviation market in Ireland and this cannot not be in the interest of the state, the EU nor the passengers. Etihad owns around 3% in Aer Lingus and I have so far hoped that they want to invest more into the former flag carrier of Ireland. We will see, but as the saying goes, " these days everything is possible " especially when money, power and influence is the name of the game, plus of course some characters a la O' Leary and of course there will be always free publicity to go with. [ In the eyes of M. O' Leary, a win-win situation ].
