Shannon Airport decisions by Easter
The airport is currently managed by the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) and losing huge sums of money and passengers.
Shannon has debts of about €100 million and lost €8m last year.
Passenger numbers have plummeted from 3.6m in 2007 to 1.6m last year.
Speaking at Limerick Chamber of Commerce breakfast in the Raddison Hotel, Mr Varadkar said Shannon going forward, must not just make a profit, but also create employment and put in place transport connectivity.
He said the current situation, whereby the airport is dependent on the DAA, was not healthy for theairport or the region and there would be no going along with the status quo into the future.
Mr Varadkar said the landbank at the airport must be developed.
He said there were also opportunities to open up night-time cargo flights given the airport was not in a built-up area like Dublin or Heathrow.
He said Shannon’s debt was a very important issue and that there was no point proceeding with an independent airport if it was not sustainable.
The debt he said would have to be written down or written off altogether.
The transport minister also raised a question about Shannon Development’s role in marketing tourism and the airport, saying there was a case to transfer this role to Fáilte Ireland.
Kieran McSweeney, president of Limerick Chamber of Commerce, said Shannon was now in crisis.
He said the airport must rediscover and re-ignite its legacy of innovation.
The airport, he added, must remain in state ownership, but separated from the DAA with a new structure.
“The airport must be given the freedom to develop its passenger numbers and needs independence from the present governance structure. It requires a new structure to deliver this,” Mr McSweeney added.
The minister’s department later said that 2012 will also be the year when the final decision will be made on the future of Cork Airport.
