Heathrow slots could form part of Aer Lingus sale
The Government is to examine whether valuable landing slots at Heathrow Airport owned by Aer Lingus should form part of the sale of the airline.
Minister for Transport, Seamus Brennan, intends to publish a discussion paper on the issue and debate the possible sale of the slots, which could be worth more than €120m, in the Dáil.
Opposition politicians want the Government to retain control of the slots, saying that a buyer might use them for non-Irish routes.
Fine Gael has described the slots as "extremely valuable" and pointed out that "if Aer Lingus were to lose them we might not be able to get them back".
