Aer Rianta may make legal challenge to break up

The board of Aer Rianta will take legal and financial advice about the break up of the company by Transport Minister Seamus Brennan.

At the conclusion of a three hour meeting in Dublin Airport today, the board members agreed to meet again early next week.

A spokesman for the board said it was conscious of its fiduciary role, which meant that it had to ensure the best actions were taken to protect the company.

However, he said it would not be correct to assume the board would take a legal challenge against the break up of Aer Rianta.

The board also examined the 10 year business plan for Aer Rianta, which is almost complete. It is understood to have similar conclusions to previous reports, which found that the break up of Aer Rianta might not be financially viable.

According to a Price Waterhouse Coopers report last year, Dublin Airport’s profitability could be seriously eroded by large interest payments on debts it transferred from Shannon and Cork airports.

Transport Minister Seamus Brennan published the State Airports Bill 2004 yesterday, which will lead to the dissolution of the Aer Rianta Board and the formation of a new Dublin Airport Authority.

New boards will also be set up for Cork and Shannon Airports but they will not be given full independence from Dublin Airport until at least April 2005. Both airports must present business plans to Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy for this to happen.

The bill is expected to be debated in the Dáil tomorrow and to be passed into law before the summer recess next month.