AER LINGUS will not exist in a few years’ time if there is not radical cost cutting, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey said yesterday.

Asked about the airline’s plan for cutting 670 jobs in an effort to save up to €100 million in costs, Mr Dempsey said the choice facing the airline was “stark”.

He encouraged the trade unions and the company to sit down together to negotiate the savings package. “Aer Lingus is faced with a very fundamental question: survival or a continuance for maybe two years. I don’t think there is any choice any more. I think there is a huge difficulty, for the company, for the workforce in the company, but the choice is fairly stark.”

Speaking on RTÉ radio's This Weekprogramme, he said he believed the various parties should sit down and talk. "But I think there's little doubt in my mind, having seen the figures, having seen the way cash has been burned up in Aer Lingus over the last 12 months, that unless they get the savings of up to €100 million, we will not be talking about Aer Lingus in a few years' time."

Asked if he was supportive of the company’s cost-cutting proposals, Mr Dempsey said he was supportive of the fact that the need for change must be recognised.

He said he would be “very supportive of both sides sitting down and working through these cuts, and achieving what they need to achieve at the end”.