Airport seeks to stand alone

THE boss of Cork Airport called publicly on the Government yesterday to give his board full independence from the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA).

In a rare public comment on the issue, Joe Gantly the chairman of the Cork Airport Authority (CAA), also confirmed that frustration is growing over the Government’s delay in tackling the €100 million debt issue that is still hanging over the airport.

He was speaking in his capacity as president of Cork Chamber at a business conference, in association with the Institute of Bankers southern region, which aimed to address key issues essential to Cork’s future development as an expanding economic region.

Mr Gantly said Cork Airport is a key piece of regional infrastructure with significant economic development potential but that it is unacceptable that the CAA is still not a separate entity from DAA.

He called on the Transport Minister to put a process in place to resolve the issues.

Conference key-note speaker, broadcaster Matt Cooper said the Government should live up to its promise to start independent operations debt free.

But he said Cork Airport could have put up a better fight following the development of the new terminal building.

He said the city is faced with a challenge in not being overtaken by Belfast as the country’s second city. “Cork needs to do more in promoting itself and get what’s due to it from national Government.”