Government U-turn - Passengers to bear cost of airport debt

IF Government commitment to balanced regional development has any meaning, it is crucial to counter-balance Dublin’s sprawl, now skewing development across the country.

Presumably, that bald economic fact of life was in the mind of former Transport Minister Seamus Brennan when, announcing the break-up of Aer Rianta, he gave an unequivocal pledge that Dublin airport would take on the debts of Shannon and Cork airports.

To quote his words, the major regional airports would begin life as “independent” and “debt-free” entities. Spelling out government policy, he emphasised that the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), the country’s biggest and most profitable operation, would pick up the bill for Shannon and Cork, counter-balancing this by selling off the Great Southern Hotels group.