Aer Lingus will announce operating profits of about €110 million for 2004 next Thursday. The airline may also announce the appointment of a new chief executive. The front-runner is now believed to be Dermot Mannion, a senior executive at Dubai-based airline, Emirates.

Aer Lingus yesterday refused to confirm whether a new chief executive would be named during Thursday's presentation, but speculation has continued to centre on Mr Mannion, an Irish-born executive who works as president (group support services) with Emirates.

Several internal candidates were recently informed they had not been successful, but the new chief executive now looks certain to be from the airline industry.

Mr Mannion, who hails from Sligo, is a qualified accountant with experience across a range of airline activities. He has been involved in fleet purchasing deals with Emirates in recent years.

While he is believed to be the front runner, other speculation has centred on executives from UK low-cost carrier EasyJet.

It is understood that Aer Lingus chairman John Sharman and headhunters KPMG have talked to several candidates over the last few weeks about the position. However, the airline suffered a setback recently when Alan Joyce, managing director of JetStar, the low-cost arm of Qantas, publicly rejected the job.

The Government is expected shortly to announce plans to sell off 51 per cent of the airline in an IPO. However, it is not clear whether a decision on this will be made at Tuesday's Cabinet meeting.

The lack of such a decision might force Aer Lingus to postpone an announcement about a new chief executive.

Sources yesterday were playing down the prospect of the Aer Lingus sale being decided on Tuesday, although the company's accounts are expected to be approved by Ministers.

The issue of a new terminal for Dublin Airport may also be delayed for another week. The absence this week of the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste has made getting agreement on a package of aviation measures more difficult.

Mr Sharman is expected to announce healthy profits for Aer Lingus at an operating level on Thursday, although exceptional items are likely to affect severely the pretax performance, including the €80 million-plus it has had to set aside for redundancies.

Turnover, which last year came to €888 million, will be up slightly to about €910 million.

The results were produced by the previous management team led by Willie Walsh. He is set to become British Airways chief executive designate on May 3rd. He will take over full time from Rod Eddington in September.

Aer Lingus is in good financial shape and most of its fuel is hedged for 2005. It is understood a significant amount is also hedged for 2006. The rising price of jet fuel is putting serious pressure on airlines worldwide, with leading flag carriers like British Airways adding a fuel surcharge to their ticket prices.