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Ryanair in third bid to buy Aer Lingus

Aer Lingus has said that it notes the announcement by Ryanair of its intention to make a third unsolicited offer for the entire airline.

In a stock exchange announcement, Aer Lingus said it will make a statement in ''due course''.

In the meantime, it is urging its shareholders to take no action.

Meanwhile, Transport Minister Leo Varadkar has said he will be consulting his cabinet colleagues about Ryanair's fresh take-over bid for Aer Lingus.

This follows Ryanair's announcement yesterday that it was making a cash offer for the former state airline which it values at €694m.

Fianna Fáil has called on the Government to block the bid.

Ryanair already owns 29.82% of Aer Lingus a stake acquired over five years ago. The stake was reviewed by the EU and has recently been referred by the UK Office of Fair Trade to the UK Competition Commission.

Ryanair has said that the cash offer represents a premium of 38.3% over the Aer Lingus current share price.

The airline said it believes that the future of the Aer Lingus will be best served as part of Ryanair and added that it believed Ryanair will be one of five large airline groupings in Europe as the aviation market consolidates.

Ryanair's outspoken chief Micael O'Leary has yet to make a statement on the latest buyout attempt.