Booz report on airport due next week

THE eagerly awaited report into Shannon Airport’s future, compiled by Booz and Co consultants, is to be published by next Wednesday.
In a statement this week, Deputy Kieran O’Donnell said it is just around the corner.
“Minister Varadkar has informed me that he will be publishing the report in redacted form by Wednesday, February 29 at the latest. This is an extremely important date for Shannon and the Mid-West. The Booz report sets the basis for the debate on the future shape of Shannon.”
Clare TD Pat Breen confirmed the report should be in the public arena very soon. “It will be published but some of the commercially sensitive information will not be made public. Three to four options will be suggested for Shannon going forward but some of them are not very viable.
“The option that is being talked about quite a lot at the moment is the public/private option and there will be a decision made before Easter.”
Deputy Breen said he has read extracts from the report, but not the whole document.
He also said that in the event of the public/private option being selected, a lot of work would need to take place.
“Interested parties would need to be talked to and it’d have to be decided if local authorities would have a role and would there be private people who would want to invest in the airport. The most important thing is that it would be kept in State ownership.”
This week the Government announced that consideration will be given to selling the State’s 25% holding in Aer Lingus if and when its share price increases.
There are fears that this could have a negative impact on Shannon, particularly concerning the Heathrow slots, but Deputy Breen said he doesn’t feel any potential sale would have a negative impact locally.
“When push came to shove in relation to Heathrow the Government didn’t have a role to play. Besides, Aer Lingus are committed to the routes and it is one of the most profitable routes that they have.”
He said there is speculation that a Middle Eastern airline is interested in buying shares in Aer Lingus and that this could open up a lot of new opportunities.