(MENAFN) Aer Lingus, the Irish airline in which Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways owns a 4.1 percent stake, said that it has rejected a takeover approach from the owner of British Airways, International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG), which is keen to gain control of the airline's times at Heathrow Airport, Arabian Business reported.
Aer Lingus, which has an estimated market value of about USD1.30 billion, said that IAG undervalued the company though it did not provide any details regarding the bid.
Buying Aer Lingus would give British Airways more takeoff and landing slots at London's Heathrow Airport, which would help the airline add more flights to its schedule, which it currently can't due to Heathrow's busy schedule.
The bid by IAG follows three similar failed bids by budget Irish carrier Ryanair, which owns a 29.9 percent stake in Aer Lingus, in addition to the Irish government which owns 25 percent of the carrier, which made bids for the carrier in hopes of using it as a premium-economy brand to compete with easyJet.
Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways holds equity investments in a number of international airlines, including Air Berlin, Air Seychelles, Aer Lingus, Air Serbia and Jet Airways, Alitalia and Swiss-based Etihad Regional, which is operated by Darwin Airline.
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