A PLAN to put Shannon Airport up for rent to private business has shocked local interests and raised fears that making a quick buck would become the priority ahead of the good of the region.
A report drafted for the Shannon Airport Authority by consultants, Avia Solutions, has put forward a radical solution with the suggestion that the facility should be leased to a consortium of private business people for a period of between 15 and 35 years.
Sources have confirmed that the plan was drawn up for submission to Transport Minister, Leo Varadkar, on foot of his request for submissions on the break-up of the three airports.
This would free Shannon from the ruling hand of the Dublin Airport Authority and leave it free to plan its own future.
But the suggestion has set alarm bells ringing for workers and the region as a whole, amid fears that profit would become the driving concern, ignoring the important role which the airport plays in the long run for business and jobs.
It is also believed that the Shannon airport board is divided on the contents of the report.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Jan O’Sullivan (Lab) said that she would be “highly sceptical” of such a plan, which has not yet been made public.
“I would be concerned if this is true. The priority of private business would be the shareholders, but it is the region which should be the priority. The airport is such an important driver for this region that it has to have a wider brief than shareholders’ profits.”
Independent Shannon councillor, Patricia McCarthy said that Shannon and Cork airports “cannot be looked at piecemeal.
“We have no aviation policy in this country and that’s what is needed”.
A spokesman for SIPTU, which has 280 members at the airport, said he would “prefer to see what this report says” before making any comment. There was no comment from the airport board.
