DAA ‘committed’ to seeing Cork back in profit

Cork Airport made a loss of around €14m last year but its parent — the Dublin Airport Authority — has said it is committed to returning the airport to profit.

The DAA yesterday reported a group pre-tax profit of €37.5m for 2011, down from a profit of €41m the previous year and mainly driven by the strong performance of its airport retail business Aer Rianta International — which contributed €32m to the profit.

With regards to Cork — which, along with Dublin, will comprise the DAA’s main airport portfolio once Shannon is separated — management said the end of domestic flight services hit the airport hardest, with passenger numbers down by 3% to 2.4m people.