MINISTER FOR transport Noel Dempsey's decision to fill three vacancies on the board of the Cork Airport Authority last week was seen by some as a signal that he might finally be moving towards making a positive decision on the separation of our international airports.

After all, if he has no plans to separate Cork and Shannon from Dublin's influence then why bother filling the positions, including that of chairman?

Don't hold your breath. The Department of Transport says it is awaiting the final report from the Dublin Airport Authority on the future viability of Dublin, Cork and Shannon as standalone entities.

It was unable to say when this might be received or how long it would take to evaluate. In the meantime, the separation plan continues to hang in mid-air, almost five years after Seamus Brennan made his promise.

It is understood that the DAA completed its report some weeks ago. However it has yet to be forwarded to the department.

A spokesman for the DAA said: "We are liaising with the Department of Transport on the best formatting and timing of the delivery of the report."

It was a somewhat cryptic answer. Perhaps last-minute tweaking is taking place to take account of recent industry events.

The report is unlikely to make for happy reading in the current economic climate, with airlines collapsing each week and consumer demand softening.

Both Ryanair and Aer Lingus have been making noises about the viability of their services from Shannon in particular, and Cork and Dublin are both likely to see passenger growth slow sharply.

Or perhaps the Minister doesn't want the headache this report might present him at a time when the Government is getting a kicking over the Budget.

Either way, it looks like it could be some time before we discover if the separation plan will get clearance for takeoff.