Walsh's remarks refuel Shannon debate

One More Thing:There was much head-scratching at Shannon airport this week following BA chief executive Willie Walsh's comments on Monday that no real effort was made to attract BA on to the Heathrow route after Aer Lingus's decision to take flight from Co Clare.

On Monday, at a briefing with Irish journalists in London, when asked if BA had considered stepping into the Shannon- Heathrow breach, Walsh said: "There was no genuine effort by anybody to encourage BA to fly from Shannon."

Not so, say sources close to the Shannon Airport Authority.

Aer Lingus informed Shannon of its decision to quit the Heathrow route last August.

We understand that Pat Shanahan, the SAA's then executive chairman, had a telephone conversation with Walsh in the first week of August to enquire if BA might fill the void. He made a similar call to BMI.

Shanahan then wrote to Walsh on September 11th with details of Shannon's European hub incentive scheme, which was put in place after Aer Lingus's decision to quit the Heathrow route.

Five-year discounts in airport charges of up to 70 per cent were offered.

The SAA also provided BA with a detailed analysis of the route and its likely costs.

BA told the SAA in late September that there was no possibility of it adding Shannon-Heathrow to its 2008 schedule.

With the recent BA crash-landing at Heathrow and the imminent opening of Terminal Five on his plate, Walsh's recollection of the Shannon chain of events might be a little foggy.

Or he might have wanted to reignite a debate that has caused the Government - who rebuffed his plan to take Aer Lingus private - much discomfort.