Airport debt issue slips under the radar

YOUR coverage of the controversy over the Shannon-Heathrow issue has me perplexed. I appreciate it is an issue of interest to people in the mid-west.

However, I can’t help wondering if the Irish Examiner had devoted the same coverage to the Cork airport debt issue, would it be facing a €100 million bill that it cannot and should not bear.

As a result, the Cork Airport Authority is now preparing to sell a large landbank at the airport to raise funds.

This sale could prevent future expansion, yet it is slipping under the radar due to blanket coverage of the Shannon hysteria. The fact is that Aer Lingus is a public company free to make the most advantageous commercial decisions. These are harder for people in Shannon to accept as a result of Government-sponsored protectionism there for the past 30 years.

Aer Lingus is changing its schedule out of Cork as a direct result of the Shannon/Belfast move and the quality of service and timing of flights has been seriously affected. This, too, has not been reported in any detail.

Simon MacAllister

4 Crab Lane

Ballintemple

Cork