The Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar said yesterday that the independent Shannon Airport has exceeded his expectations to record a profit in its first year of operation.

The panel that examined the €780m deficit in the aviation pension scheme yesterday said the solution it was suggesting provides the "final opportunity" for members to get their "optimum level of future pension provision".

The head of the country’s second-largest lender has thrown his weight behind the Central Bank’s proposed mortgage restrictions, saying that he agrees with the principles on which they are based.

The new passenger terminal at Dublin Airport will open on schedule in two years time, according to the Dublin Airport Authority.

I CAN’T but comment on the DDA’s stunning new ad listing all the “wonderful” things from and about us Irish and the island of Ireland.

MEMBERS of the public were urged yesterday to tell Government parties they will vote against them unless they do a U-turn on Cork Airport’s €100 million debt.

PASSENGER numbers are plunging, Europe’s biggest airline say it’s too expensive to operate there and local businessmen are complaining that the place is empty.

A full-body scanner is to be used on staff at Dublin Airport under plans to test the controversial security equipment.

Met Eireann have issued an ice and snow warning as freezing fog and flurries of snow plagued parts of the country.

Dublin is to host the 2011 UEFA Cup final, it was announced today.

Siptu members at Aer Lingus and the Dublin and Shannon airport authorities have welcomed an interim proposal by the Labour Court for a structured negotiation process to resolve the pensions row at the companies.

Seán Kelly, the Cork South MEP, has warned that ending round-the-clock landing services at Cork Airport will threaten the terminal’s international status and lead to a decline in passengers.

Monday’s disruptive airport stoppages may have been averted, but there is little optimism that talks at the Labour Relations Commission can resolve the two-year old pension dispute at Aer Lingus and Dublin Airport Authority.

The operations of Irish Water, which will collect charges from households around the country by 2015, will be covered in a veil of secrecy, according to Fianna Fáil.

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar has played down suggestions that projected numbers for Shannon Airport are “fanciful”.

Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar yesterday revealed a tax-incentivised aviation model at Shannon Airport as the most likely model the Government is to pursue for the airport.

A HIGH Court judge has refused, on condition of Ryanair’s consent to provide certain undertakings, to grant an injunction restraining the airline allegedly intimidating agency staff selling rail tickets for London at Dublin Airport on behalf of a British company.