RYANAIR boss Michael O’Leary yesterday revealed plans for a fresh takeover bid for Irish flag-carrier Aer Lingus.

His proposed offer values the former state-owned airline at 747.5m euros (£618m) – about half the sum proposed by Ryanair in a failed bid two years ago. That approach was thwarted on European competition grounds, while the Irish government and airline employees, who own sizeable shareholdings in Aer Lingus, also voiced their opposition.

Mr O’Leary said high oil prices and the economic downturn meant the airline sector had changed dramatically in the two years since the last offer.

He said: “This proposed merger of Ryanair and Aer Lingus will form one Irish airline group with the financial strength to compete with Europe’s three major airline groups – Air France, British Airways and Lufthansa.

‘‘Aer Lingus, as a small, stand-alone, regional airline has been marginalised and bypassed as most other EU flag carriers consolidate.”

Aer Lingus, which in August reported half-year operating losses of 22.3m euros, said it will respond to Ryanair in due course, but in the meantime it urged its shareholders to take no action.

Ryanair, which owns 29.8 per cent of Aer Lingus, said it had requested a meeting with the company’s chairman and board representatives, as well as Irish government officials.

It is offering a 25 per cent premium to the company’s share price on Friday.

Aer Lingus’s short-haul service operates from Dublin, Cork and Belfast to 59 destinations in the UK and continental Europe. It also has a long-haul network comprising services from Shannon and Dublin to the US.

Ryanair offers 1,040 scheduled short-haul flights per day serving 148 European locations, with an operating fleet of 108 aircraft.

It said it was committed to doubling the size of the Aer Lingus short-haul fleet from 33 to 66 aircraft over the next five years – creating about 1,000 Aer Lingus jobs in the period.

Threatened strike action at Aer Lingus, which is attempting to implement a controversial 74m Euros (£60m) costcutting programme, was called off last week after a framework was agreed with union bosses to deliver 50m Euros (£40m) of those savings on staffing costs without outsourcing 1,300 jobs.