Willie Walsh, chief executive of International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) talked to Newstalk Lunchtime ahead of his appearance at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications later today.

Changing the narrative

Mr Walsh was keen to move away from the current narrative which has been dominated by fears over job-losses and a threat to the country's connectivity.

He says that this is a "growth story" and that Aer Lingus will be a "stronger" airline working as part of IAG. Adding that IAG is interested in Aer Lingus because of the strength of the brand - and its potential for growth.

A bigger airline

Mr Walsh reiterated that IAG wants to develop Dublin Airport as an international hub - connecting passengers between Europe and North America.

He says that this will have a knock-on effect through the company - meaning that the European and regional arms of the business will grow as more transatlantic traffic comes through Dublin.

Isolation

Willie Walsh claims that Aer Lingus will face "a tough job to survive – not grow" if it remains independent.

He adds that it faces particularly stiff competition sharing its primary market with Ryanair.

What about job losses?

If IAG takes over Aer Lingus there will be some administrative jobs lost in Dublin as they overlap with jobs that already exist in other regions - he calls this a "regular evolution of a business.”

When it was put to him that 1,000 to 1,200 jobs were cut when Iberia merged with British Airways, creating IAG - Mr Walsh says that the Aer Lingus deal is different.

He argues that the Spanish airline was in need of restructuring and that Aer Lingus has already gone through a prolonged restructuring process.

Mr Walsh concludes that we "should be focusing on the number of people who will be given new frontline jobs” - he has previously said that the deal could make as many as 500 new jobs in Dublin.

Playing politics

While noting that politicians always have "one eye" on the next election - the IAG man argues that the commercial benefits that the deal will bring should be the Government's main focus.

He also indicated that from his conversation with Transport Minister, Paschal Donohoe he thinks that the Government is keen to "move this forward."

Heathrow

The chief executive reiterated that the deal would give the Government stronger guarantees than the ones that are already in place regarding the London slots.

He also argues that the value of these slots have also been overstated - and that of the 23 slots he would only be interested in aquiring "one or two" as a buyer.