By Gordon Deegan
Monday, February 20, 2012
Shannon Airport is dead unless it is totally re-engineered, according to a leading Irish aviation executive.
Advancing the case for the outright privatisation of the airport, chief executive of Avolon, Dómhnal Slattery said "the private ownership of Shannon Airport could allow the airport to flourish".
Speaking at an Ennis Chamber of Commerce event, Mr Slattery said: "The reality is that Shannon has been moribund, strategically, for the last 15 years and we have to find a strategic future for it."
Mr Slattery began his aviation career at Shannon under Ryanair founder Tony Ryan at Guinness Peat Aviation.
Since establishing Avolon in May 2010, Mr Slattery has led the Dublin-based firm to raise $4 billion (€3bn) to create a portfolio of 95 aircraft with 26 airline customers in 18 countries.
Mr Slattery said it is very hard to rationalise Shannon’s existence as a passenger airport in Ireland in the 21st century because of the road network that exists now.
The Co Clare native said: "My feeling is the future for Shannon is not in passenger air travel.
"There will be passengers going in and out of there — we do need to have a hub airline, whether it is a low-cost carrier like Ryanair — but the future for Shannon lies in being a global cargo hub.
"Cargo is growing at twice the rate of passenger travel all over the world so cargo is a very sustainable business. It is the place to be and Shannon and its environs is ideally positioned and if you could turn it in to a global cargo hub, the number of people working in the airport would be multiplied dramatically."
He revealed: "We at Avolon have reached out to one or two of the very large cargo players to see if we can open up a strategic conversation about them coming to Shannon and if they won’t come, why not and what can we change to make them come?"
Leo Varadkar, the minister for transport, is examining options concerning the future ownership of Shannon and has already stated that the airport will remain in public ownership, arguing that it is a strategic national asset.
The Government is considering the option of selling an equity stake in the airport and Fianna Fáil transport spokesman Timmy Dooley said yesterday that complete privatisation is not the way to go for Shannon.
Mr Dooley, who attended the chamber of commerce function, said: "Mr Slattery deserves to be listened to, but I believe that the airport should remain in state ownership.
"If it was to be privatised, the focus would be solely on making profits rather than providing benefits for the wider region."
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