Shannon Airport plan ‘ambitious’ investment

Operating profits at Shannon Airport and its two subsidiary property and tourism firms increased last year.

That is according to the chief executive of the Shannon Group, Neil Pakey, who said yesterday that the group is planning “an ambitious investment programme” throughout its business.

In an interview, Mr Pakey said the airport is projecting single-digit percentage growth in passenger numbers this year.

The airport enjoyed a 17% increase in passenger numbers last year, with nearly 1.64m using its services, largely on the back of new Ryanair offerings.

Mr Pakey said: “Overall we are going to be looking at growth this year. It is not going to be the same level as last year and it is going to be single-digit growth.”

The Shannon Group is not due to publish its annual results until the end of the month or early May, but Mr Pakey did say that 2014 operating profits increased at the airport and its two subsidiaries, Shannon Commercial Properties Ltd and Shannon Heritage Ltd.

On the group’s investment programme, Mr Pakey said: “The interesting thing about the whole business has been the under-investment of previous years, whether it is the airport and some of the products in the airport,” adding that “some of it is getting old and tired”.

He said the planned investment programme will extend to Shannon Commercial Properties Ltd, whose portfolio features the Shannon Free Zone, and Shannon Heritage Ltd, which itself includes visitor attractions such as Bunratty Folk Park and Castle.

Regarding the investment programme for Shannon Commercial Properties, Mr Pakey said: “It is self-evident that some of the buildings are in a state of dilapidation. They have lacked severe investment over the last number of years. They need ongoing investment and we want to rectify that. We know if we don’t do anything, we won’t fill them.”

He added that Shannon Heritage offerings also require fresh investment and confirmed that consultants, hired to carry out a strategic review of the tourism firm, have completed their work and reported to the board and executive team.

Mr Pakey described the work as “very good and thorough” and said some of its findings point to under- investment in tourist attractions and marketing in recent years.

Mr Pakey said the full root-and-branch review “has been very illuminating for us”.

“Bunratty is great, but we have to be able to have Bunratty as best-in-class as a tourism visitor attraction, not just in Ireland but across western Europe. We want to invest there to improve the product, the facilities and the marketing.

“In terms of the infrastructure itself, it is evident that in order to maintain the heritage, we need investment and then we get greater customer retention,” he added.

“On marketing, historically, we could have spent more on marketing and yielded higher returns,” Mr Pakey said, adding that the group will be looking to the likes of the Strategic Investment Fund for help.

Mr Pakey admitted that “we won’t be able to do everything we want to do just yet”.

On the progress of Shannon since it secured independence on January 1 2014, Mr Pakey said that “the board do seem appreciative of the targets being achieved”.