BA shares up 2.25% as Walsh takes helm

FORMER Aer Lingus boss Willie Walsh has landed the €850,000-a-year job as chief executive of British Airways.

Mr Walsh, who quit Aer Lingus in January over the failure of the Government to make a swift decision on investment and ownership, will take over from Rod Eddington in September.

It had been rumoured that Mr Walsh and the other two executives who left with him - Brian Dunne and Séamus Kearney - were planning to set up their own lost-cost airline. It is not known if they will join Mr Walsh at BA.