Ryanair eyes bid for bust German flyer

RYANAIR could be about to scoop up its bust German rival.

The budget airline’s chief executive Michael O’Leary said he was interested in buying Air Berlin but needed more information on its finances.

The 56-year-old told Reuters: ‘We would be very happy to bid for the whole of Air Berlin, which is generally a short-haul, domestic, intra-EU carrier.

‘But we don’t know how much restructuring it will take, how much money is it losing, why is it losing so much money in a market where we make money.’

Germany’s second-largest airline filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this month after key shareholder Etihad Airways withdrew funding following years of losses.

Ryanair bought budget carrier Buzz from Dutch airline KLM in 2003, and O’Leary said he was keen to be a big player in the increasingly consolidated European airline industry.

O’Leary predicted that in five years’ time there would be only four or five airline groups in Europe – Ryanair, Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, British Airways parent IAG, and possibly, he said, budget rival EasyJet.