Shake-up looms for Cork and Shannon airports

A MAJOR shake-up is expected at Cork and Shannon airports as the Government drafts in top consultants to look at their futures.

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar said the present “halfway house arrangement” whereby Cork and Shannon have their own boards but limited autonomy from the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), “cannot continue indefinitely”.

He also said that the situation of losses at Cork and Shannon being absorbed by the remaining profitable parts of the DAA Group cannot go on.

Mr Varadkar has commissioned British consulting firm Booz & Company to conduct a study of options for the future ownership and operation of Cork and Shannon airports.

They are due to report back to the minister in a month.

It is understood that Mr Varadkar was unhappy that no study had been undertaken on separating the airports.

According to the Department of Transport, this is the first study of its kind on separation. It refused to say how much the report will cost to complete.

Central to the debate on separating the airports is the debt associated with the construction of a €100 million terminal at Cork. That debt is included within the group borrowings of the DAA.

In 2008 then transport minister Noel Dempsey postponed to 2011 making a decision on the separation of Cork and Shannon airports, as envisaged under the State Airports Act 2004.

Mr Varadkar recently asked the boards of the three authorities for their views again on separation. He said that given the current business environment and the recent trends in the aviation sector he was not surprised to hear that there was no support for separation.

“I have decided to seek wide-ranging advice on all possible options for the future ownership and operation of Cork and Shannon airports, so that I can prop-ose informed recommendations to Government,” Mr Varadkar said.

He has asked the consultants to engage with stakeholders in Cork and Shannon on sustainable options for the airports and to report back in a month.

A spokeswoman for the DAA said they will engage fully with the consultants. Spokespeople for Shannon and Cork airports had no further comment.

Mr Varadkar said earlier this month that there would be no point in separating the three state airports “only to see one or two of them going bust in a short period”.

Booz & Company describes itself as a leading global management consulting firm, helping the world’s top businesses and governments.

They have been involved in the merger of the National and American Football Leagues and the rescue of the Chrysler corporation from bankruptcy.