Plans submitted to establish airports as independent

BUSINESS plans to establish Cork and Shannon as independent airports have finally been sent to the Government for approval, it was confirmed yesterday.

The Dublin Airport Authority — which has responsibility for all three State airports — told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport that separate business plans for each airport had been submitted to the Government last month.

DAA chief executive Declan Collier said the plans had been forwarded “unamended,” although the DAA disagreed with some of the proposals recommended by the Cork Airport Authority.

“It is quite clear that there are elements in the plan which we do not support, similar to Shannon,” admitted Mr Collier.

This is understood to be a reference to the wishes of the DAA board that the Cork Airport Authority should take on €100 million of the €220m debt it incurred for the recent redevelopment of facilities at the airport in Cork.

The DAA position on the transfer of debt between airports in Dublin and Cork runs counter to a promise made by the Government in 2003 when it first announced plans for the break-up of Aer Rianta that both Cork and Shannon would be debt-free from the start of their independence.

“The business planning process has proved a complex and protracted process, principally because key issues affecting one airport had implications for the other airports’ business plans and needed to be addressed before all three plans could be completed and submitted,” Mr Collier told TDs and senators.

However, the DAA chief executive declined to discuss any details of the individual plans on the basis it would be inappropriate given they are being examined by the Government.

Mr Collier specifically declined to comment on whether the plans contained a proposal to sell land at Cork Airport to reduce its debts which stand at a little more than €200m.

The various business plans are being examined by Finance Minister Brian Cowen and Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey and their advisers. However, a decision on the independence and debt levels of the airports is unlikely to be taken for several months.

Fine Gael deputy Bernard Allen said it was a fallacy that Cork Airport was performing well when it was struggling.

The Cork North Central TD said numbers were being artificially helped by the large number of Polish immigrants.

He pointed out that Czech Airlines and Malev had already discontinued their routes to Cork, while Aer Lingus and Aer Arann had withdrawn some services.

Mr Collier described Mr Allen’s claim that Cork Airport needed a further €150m forfuture investment as “a very wild exaggeration.”