Monday, 02 July 2012 00:00

National carrier Turkish Airlines' chief executive Temel Kotil said on Friday that his company did not plan to buy Irish airline Aer Lingus.

"The EU does not favour a company outside the union holding a majority stake. There isn't a liberal market there, our path for inorganic growth in the EU is currently blocked," Kotil said at a conference in Istanbul.

The Sunday Business Post had reported on June 24 that Turkish Airlines may be a potential bidder for Aer Lingus and was assessing Ireland's 75-year-old former flag carrier.