Dublin-based airline CityJet has said it would consider launching routes from Shannon Airport to London City and Charles De Gaulle (CDG) in Paris if a suitable package of incentives was offered and demand for these services could be established.
Geoffrey O'Byrne White, CityJet's chief executive, said: "We'll certainly sit down and talk to Shannon and see what's available. Having said that, we'll have to do our sums and we'd have to be satisfied there's a demand from the business community."
CityJet is wholly owned by Air France, the biggest operator from CDG. Launching a route to Paris would offer passengers using Shannon the opportunity to link in to Air France's network of long-haul destinations.
Mr O'Byrne White, who is holidaying in west Cork, said he would be happy to meet business groups in Shannon to discuss the demand for such services. The airline already operates from Dublin to London city and to Paris. Earlier this year, it launched a service from Belfast to London city.
The Shannon Airport Authority faces an uphill battle to win new short-haul business for the airport.
In the past two years, EasyJet, Hapag Lloyd, Flybe, Thomsonfly and British Airways have pulled out of Shannon due to high costs and competition from Ryanair.Just 10 airlines currently operate scheduled flights from Shannon, which had 3.6 million passengers in 2006.
Aer Lingus, American Airlines, US Airways, Delta, Continental, Air Canada and Air Transat all operate long-haul flights to North America.
The only operators to European destinations are Aer Lingus to Heathrow, Ryanair, Polish airline Centralwings and Belavia, the Belarusian national airline.
Aer Lingus has ruled out reversing its decision on Heathrow, in spite of the Shannon Airport Authority suggesting cuts of €4 million a year to its cost base on the route.
Suggestions from some groups in Shannon that the airline might be willing to launch services to Paris or Amsterdam for those wishing to connect with long-haul destinations are unlikely to be entertained.
Aer Lingus has a codesharing arrangement with KLM in Amsterdam that would allow passengers to make one booking and check the bags straight through.
Enda Corneille, Aer Lingus's commercial director, said there was "very little likelihood" of it adding flights from Shannon to Amsterdam or Paris to its network. He said all of Aer Lingus's aircraft were committed to other routes and that leasing aircraft was not a viable option due to the high costs involved.
Mr Corneille, however, said Aer Lingus was committed to its long-haul services from Shannon to the US. It operates daily flights to New York, Boston and Chicago, offering 400,000 seats a year.
"It's an important market for us and we need to look after that market," he said.
Aer Lingus's assurances about Shannon's long-haul services cut little ice with Patricia McCarthy, the mayor of Clare. "We've got a commitment from them for winter '07, but we don't know what's going to happen after that," she said. Ms McCarthy is part of a group of local tourism groups that will fly this week to Chicago on a five-day trip to promote Shannon as a gateway to Ireland. She said the fight to save the Heathrow slots was not over and legal action was a possibility.
"They're [Heathrow slots] not gone by any means," she said.
Sources close to the Shannon Airport Authority acknowledged that it could be some time before a deal with a new short-haul operator could be agreed.
