First passengers use €160m facility
As the first passengers passed through the state-of-the-art 25,000 square metre building, the Government was again urged to honour a 2003 commitment that Cork Airport Authority (CAA) would start independent operations at the airport debt-free.
Fine Gael TD Bernard Allen was one of the first passengers to use the new building after a family weekend away. He said the Government should honour its pledge.
“It is an impressive terminal building — and it should be at the price,” he said. “It’s great to see Cork at long last get a state-of-the-art terminal. But the thorny question now is who pays the debt. The CAA should not have to begin its independent life saddled by debt. This is now a decision for the Government.”
It looks increasingly likely that the CAA will be saddled with some of the total redevelopment costs, estimated at €200m.
The Government is awaiting an independent analysis from PricewaterhouseCoopers of a report conducted by BDO Simpson Xavier on how various debts, including the redevelopment costs at Cork Airport, should be spread between the State’s three airports.
Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin said he expects the Government decision on the issue next month.
But the debt issue was not on the radar of Cork’s airport managers yesterday.
They popped champagne corks as the first 170 passengers passed through the new terminal just before 7.30am.
Ford motor company executive Martin Davis, from Essex, was the first passenger through the new building. A regular user of Cork Airport, he described the new terminal as fantastic but was disappointed with the taxi strike.
“It’s a great shame, especially when the new terminal is open,” he said.
Work started on the massive redevelopment project in 2003.
It included the construction of the new terminal, a new fire station, a new multi-storey car park and an extensive internal road network.
