Banks are consolidating in the crisis. Airlines are too – Ryanair being the latest to try with its opportunistic pop at Aer Lingus. This is the second time the low-cost carrier has had a go at the Irish carrier, only this offer, at €1.40 a share, is half what Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s chief executive, offered two years ago.

The bid puts Aer Lingus in a bind. It is small. It is loss-making. And, offering mostly short-haul European flights that are being chomped away by low-cost carriers, stuck in a strategic corner. Combining with a large European airline – like British Airways or Lufthansa – might be an alternative. But they are busy with mergers of their own.