Ryanair confident of Aer Lingus approval Ryanair said it is confident of winning regulatory clearance for its bid for Aer Lingus after the submission of a "revolutionary" package of remedies to the European Commission to address competition concerns. It also warned on Friday that if Ryanair's €1.30 per share bid for the Irish flag carrier were blocked by Brussels it would sell its stake and Aer Lingus would inevitably be broken up. "If the Commission turns down this remedies package, then I think we would have to seriously consider exiting our investment in Aer Lingus, which without question would result in Aer Lingus being broken up," said Michael O'Leary, Ryanair chief executive, at the company's annual meeting in Dublin. Mr O'Leary said Ryanair had received bids for its 29.9 per cent stake in Aer Lingus from financial buyers. He would not give any further details of these approaches, except that some of them had been made within the last three months. Mr O'Leary said Ryanair had submitted a draft remedies package to the Commission, which involved getting other airlines to commit to take over 35 routes to Europe where the proposed takeover would result in a monopoly situation. Talks between Ryanair, Brussels and other airlines would continue until the end of October and he was hopeful of a decision on the bid before Christmas, he said. There is a compelling airline timing issue involved. If we could get approval before Christmas then it would enable the other airlines to come and take up the other routes in time for summer 2013," he said. In 2007, the European Commission prohibited Ryanair's first takeover bid for Aer Lingus, saying that the combined entity would have harmed consumers by creating a monopoly or dominant position on 35 routes to and from Ireland. In July, Aer Lingus highlighted how the number of routes where it and Ryanair were the only operators had increased, from 22 in 2007 to 44 in 2012. Mr O'Leary said Ryanair's remedies package was "revolutionary" and went far beyond those accepted by the Commission in previous airline transactions such as British Airways and British Midland. He said Ryanair had won commitments from other airlines, who wanted to take up the routes, flights and traffic provided under the remedies package. But he said no formal commitments could be finalised before the talks with the Commission were concluded. Mr O'Leary refused to disclose the airlines involved in the talks but the Financial Times reported last month it had approached Air France-KLM, EasyJet, Etihad Airways, Flybe, International Airlines Group and Virgin Atlantic. Mr O'Leary said the discussion with the Commission on Ryanair's bid for Aer Lingus was being conducted in a more "rational and dispassionate" manner compared to its previous bids for the company. "In 2007 there was much more government interference ... they were determined to block it come hell or high water," he said. He said Charlie McCreevey, a former European Commissioner who sits on the board of Ryanair, had not been involved in the talks because he felt this could have been a "hindrance." "I remain confident that our revolutionary remedies package will win approval in Brussels and that we will be able to acquire in time and significantly grow Aer Lingus and have two decent-sized Irish airlines running around Europe kicking the crap out of the competition," said Mr O'Leary.