Airport board faces business plan crux

THE main challenge facing the new Cork Airport designate-board appointed by Transport Minister Seamus Brennan yesterday will be to deliver a business plan showing how the major €153 million development can be funded.

The seven new directors appointed by the minister have a broad range of business and financial experience and several of them work in export businesses.

Four worker directors will be appointed by the trade unions to complete the 12-member board before next April when the new board takes over full running of the airport.

The board chairman, Joe Gantly has already been announced. He is well-known nationally and in Cork as former Apple European operations director.

The seven new directors are: Bord Gais chief financial officer Pat Dalton; Ireland American Fund chairperson Loretta Glucksman; Global Stainless director Humphrey Murphy; Beamish & Crawford managing director Alf Smiddy; Kilkenny Group chairperson Veronica Perdisatt; Ó Catháin Iasc Teo managing director Eoin Ó Catháin; and Beacon Travel chief executive and director of West Cork Tourism Don Cullinane.

While Cork Chamber of Commerce welcomed the appointment of the new board they said it was disappointing they did not have more aviation business and international expertise.

But the board’s main task between now and next April will be to devise a business plan for the future development of the airport which must be presented to Transport Minister Seamus Brennan and the new finance minister.

Aer Rianta has already borrowed €153m to finance the building of a new terminal, major infrastructure and a fire station at Cork Airport.

But when Aer Rianta is broken up into three separate State-owned companies to run Cork, Shannon and Dublin airports the big question will be who will carry the current debts in Cork and Shannon?

While Mr Brennan has repeatedly insisted that Cork and Shannon will have clean financial slates starting off, and the new Dublin Airport Authority which will absorb their debts, many industry analysts claim this is not possible under EU regulations.

“The main challenge that will face the new Cork Airport designate board in devising a business plan will be how to service this €153m debt if it is left on their books after the break-up,” one aviation expert said.

And this would be a major handicap to the new independent Cork Airport board because they would have to find €12m a year to service those borrowings.

But Mr Brennan said yesterday he was confident that new independent Cork Airport would thrive, based on the experience of similar sized airports in Britain which operated as independent companies.

The members of the new boards-designate of Cork, Shannon and Dublin are people of the highest calibre of international, national and regional expertise, Mr Brennan added.

Cork Airport manager Joe O’Connor said he was impressed with the calibre of the appointed board and looked forward to working with them.

Meanwhile, Cork Chamber of Commerce welcomed the appointment of the new board. But its chairperson Robin O’Sullivan said it was disappointing that there were not more nominees with aviation expertise - particularly international expertise which they recommended.