Aer Rianta break-up ‘good for airports’

CORK and Shannon airports will grow once they are independent of Aer Rianta and the dominance of Dublin airport, a top Canadian airport executive predicted yesterday.

The president and chief executive of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, Louis Turpen, who witnessed the break-up of the Canadian airport system in the 1990's said: "Toronto airport subsidised virtually every other Canadian airport, but the break-up put an end to this and gave the smaller airports a new direction. They were then free to set their own rates and charges and to come up with their own strategies.

"The Canadian experience was a huge success and the travelling public and local economy benefited greatly," he said.

He was speaking at the Shannon Development Dynamic Region's Building European Competitiveness conference at the Radisson Hotel, Limerick.

Chief executive of Shannon Development, Kevin Thompstone, said ambitious plans to recreate Shannon Airport as the €5 billion air cargo capital of Europe could create a possible 15,000 jobs.

"Air cargo is the fastest growing mode of transport, accounting for 40% of all world trade. The world freight market is expected to triple in the next 20 years," he said.

"Initial research suggests that Shannon Airport is strategically located between the US and Asia to become the European air cargo capital. This ambitious concept is still at an early stage, but if realised it could see Shannon Airport developed as the €5 billion air cargo capital of Europe."