Ryanair would like to buy Germany's second largest airline under one condition

REUTERS/Yves Herman

BERLIN (Reuters) - Ryanair would be interested in making a bid for the whole of insolvent German carrier Air Berlin, but it needs access to more data on the airline's finances, its chief executive told Reuters.

"We would be very happy to bid for the whole of Air Berlin, which is generally a short-haul, domestic, intra-EU carrier," Michael O'Leary told Reuters via telephone.

"But we don't know how much restructuring it will take, how much money is it losing, why is it losing so much money in a market where we make money," he said.

O'Leary complained that the Air Berlin insolvency process is a "stitch-up" to help strengthen Lufthansa.

"What's going to be left by the time Lufthansa completes the discussions?," he said, referring to comments made last week that Lufthansa was first in line for talks.

Last week, Germany's largest airline, Lufthansa, announced that it is in negotiations to take over portions of Air Berlin. O'Leary's statement indicates that Ryanair may only be interested in Air Berlin if it will be allowed to acquire the entirety of the bankrupt carrier and not just what's left after Lufthansa picks off the more valuable assets.  

(Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Maria Sheahan)