This article is from page 8 of the 2012-01-31 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
THE definitive government policy on Shannon Airport won’t be known until later in 2012.
Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar has told business leaders in the Mid-West region that the deadline for a formal announcement on the future direction of Clare’s international airport, originally due this January has been delayed for a number of months.
A timetable for the delivery of a new policy blueprint for Shannon was confirmed by Minister Varadkar on Friday last when he addressed a Limerick Chamber of Commerce breakfast gathering at the Radisson Hotel in Meelick.
And, the future of the former hub of the aviation world, Minister Varadkar said could involve a substantial or complete “write down” of Shannon’s debts which are now running at € 100m, with losses from 2011 standing at € 8m.
“There is no point in proceeding with independence if it’s not going to work and. in that context, the debt would have to be written down, if not written off,” Minister Varadkar revealed.
In opening up the possibility of Shannon having a fresh start, freed from the strictures of Dublin Airport Authority control and no overhanging legacy debts, Minister Varadkar said “what we want is to secure the future of Shannon. There is no question of closure”.
“It is my absolute intention to give certainty (concerning the airport’s future) in 2012. Whatever solution we decide on will be decided this year,” the Minister added in a question and answer session with journal- ists and business leaders.
Last October Minister Vardakar commissioned a study on the airport’s future from Booz & Company, which suggested that Shannon be separated from DAA control and placed under the management of a new company drawn from public bodies like Clare County Council and Shannon Development.
On Friday, Minister Varadkar revealed that this process of change at Shannon would begin with the appointment of a interim board by Easter to deliver a business plan going forward.
This announcement follows on from the revelation earlier this month that Bertie Ahern appointee, Brian O’Connell, was no longer chairman of the Shannon Airport Authority.
It was O’Connell who controversially proposed to Minister Varadkar last year that Shannon be semi-privatised by way of the State entering into a 15 to 35-year lease agreement with private business interests who would take over the operation of the airport.
Minister Varadkar’s pledged to decide on Shannon’s future in 2012 comes in the wake of latest passenger figures which have revealed that numbers through the airport dropped to 1.6m in 2011, which represents a drop over 2m from the historic high of 3,639,046 in 2006.