[caption id="attachment_69785" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="James Hogan."]
You might end up getting your chicken or beef in a kebab.
Middle Eastern airline Etihad has signaled that it might invest in Aer Lingus.
The Abu-Dhabi-based carrier, which operates a service out of Dublin Airport's Terminal 2 to the Gulf state, said after posting its first annual profit last week that it was mulling further purchases, this following an investment in budget airline, Air Berlin.
The mulling, according to reports, could end up with Etihad buying a stake in Aer Lingus.
The Irish Examiner reported that Etihad was looking at a range of carriers and would seriously consider one or two global opportunities to help feed its network, this according to Etihad's chief executive officer, James Hogan.
"We don't enter an agreement to bail somebody out, we enter into an agreement to improve our top line and revenue and take out more cost," Hogan said.
"With Aer Lingus we have looked at top line, but haven't entered into any advanced negotiations," he said.
According to the report, Etihad's investment criteria, again according to the Australia-born Hogan, include a like-minded management and the ability to cut costs and achieve network integration.
The state-owned Etihad, which competes in the Gulf with Dubai-based Emirates and Doha's Qatar Airways, has been expanding its global presence via new routes and planes, as well as taking stakes in other airlines.
