Minister examines privatisation as option for Cork and Shannon airports

MINISTER FOR Transport Leo Varadkar has raised the prospect that Cork and Shannon airports could be privatised or given some form of greater independence from the Dublin Airport Authority, which has legal responsibility for them at present.

On Friday, the Minister announced that consultant Booz and Company had been engaged to carry out a study of options for the future ownership and operation of Cork and Shannon.

Mr Varadkar said yesterday that Booz would “look at concession options, at lease options [and] at potential privatisation” for Cork and Shannon before he made a decision on the possible separation of Cork and Shannon from the DAA.

“It’s my objective to break up the monopoly that is there and to free Cork and Shannon as much as possible from the control of Dublin,” Mr Varadkar told RTÉ radio.

The Minister said he did not believe it would be possible to separate Cork and Shannon into separate semi-State companies as was envisaged by the previous government in 2004, “but there may be other ways to do it”.

Mr Varadkar has already sought the opinions of the Dublin, Cork and Shannon airport authorities on separation. There was no support from the three boards for separation into independent State companies, as had been envisaged in 2004.

However, a proposal from Shannon suggested that the Co Clare airport should be separated from the DAA and leased to a private company for 15 to 35 years.

Since 2004, Cork and Shannon have had their own boards and limited autonomy from the DAA, although the Dublin board continues to be legally responsible for the two airports and makes all financial decisions.

Mr Varadkar said the current structure was not sustainable as Cork and Shannon were too big a drain on the finances of the authority. He said Cork was losing €10-€14 million while Shannon’s losses amount to about €8 million annually.

“That was sustainable [in the past] because profits from Dublin and Aer Rianta International were sufficient to cover them. That’s not the case any more.”

Booz is expected to report to the Minister by the end of November with Mr Varadkar making a decision on separation by the end of this year.