Majority sell-off of airline favoured

TRANSPORT Minister Martin Cullen said he favoured a majority sell-off of Aer Lingus which would put an end to speculation about the future of the airline.

Mr Cullen said it mattered little to him whether it was an 80% or 90% sale of the state asset, so long as it was done quickly.

Willie Walsh, former chief executive Aer Lingus, welcomed the decision, saying it was imperative the airline had access to capital quickly in order to survive.

Mr Cullen was speaking at the Irish Management Institute’s annual conference at the Marriott Hotel in Druids Glen, Co Wicklow, attended by the cream of the country’s business leaders. The minister also gave the clearest indication yet that Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) would be given full control of the proposed second terminal at Dublin airport.

“The DAA should control the terminal structure,” he said. His comments underscore claims made earlier by Ulick McEvaddy, a businessman behind a rival bid to build the terminal, that a decision had already been made about the ownership of the second terminal.

His views conflict with those of Tánaiste Mary Harney who favours private sector ownership of the new terminal. Mr Cullen said he was aware of “different views being put across the table” on the issue, but was not anticipating any conflict with the Tánaiste. While he did not think the McEvaddy brothers or other interested parties, including Ryanair, had submitted proposals for the new structure, he said the Government had not made a decision.

Mr Cullen said he was not going to “buy land from the McEvaddys when the DAA had more land in the vicinity than they had.” Their proposed site is at Huntstown, near the airport. Mr McEvaddy also expressed alarm that the minister favoured the location north of the existing terminal. That location was dismissed as the worst possible option by feasibility studies on the proposed second terminal, he said.

If the rumours are true, Mr McEvaddy vowed he would challenge the ruling. He expected that Ryanair would join him in taking on the Government, if the situation turns out as he now fears, he said on Morning Ireland.

SIPTU aviation branch secretary Dermot O’Loughlin said any move to build on the northern apron would cause huge disruption to thousands of workers.

The minister said he was “very impressed with the leadership” of the DAA. It was in its mandate that it should own the new terminal and it is a matter for the DAA to get on with the job it was set up to do, he said.

“That is not to say I’m against private sector involvement if it wants that option,” said Mr Cullen.

On the question of time, the minister said he would have proposals before the Cabinet within weeks.

On the Aer Lingus sell-off, Mr Cullen said he was convinced it has the potential to “be a strong national airline for this country.”

It needed the commercial freedom to be in a position to react to pressures as they arose, something it was impossible for it to do as a state-owned company, he said.

Mr Walsh warned that the airline needed to rationalise significantly before it was ready to go to market, but he refused to comment on the level of job cuts saying it was a matter for the new management.

However, Mr Walsh expressed serious reservations about the minister’s preference for the DAA to control the second terminal.

“What this country needs is a private competing terminal,” he said.