Varadkar defends Aer Rianta stance

WHEN Shannon Airport separated from the Dublin Airport Authority earlier this year, it lost all claim on the ultra-profitable Aer Rianta International (ARI), despite the fact that it was founded in Shannon in the 1980s and has been based there since.

In a letter to Shannon Town Council, Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar, defended the decision to break the link between ARI and Shannon. “While I appreciate that ARI has certain historical connections with Shannon and that its staff are headquartered there, ARI is and always was a subsidiary of the DAA group (formerly Aer Rianta) and it has no financial connection to Shannon Airport.

“Since the enactment of the State Airports Act in 2004, it has been the intention of successive governments that while the debts associated with the business of Shannon Airport would remain with the DAA, ARI would also remain with the DAA. ARI is an integral part of the DAA group and can only maximise its potential within DAA ownership, benefiting from the latter’s funding, borrowing and balance sheet capacity. The DAA’s balance sheet and credit rating are reflective of the group’s overall business, including ARI. Even if it was desirable to transfer ARI out of DAA, it would have damaged the latter’s viability to do so as part of the Shannon separation process. In short, if the DAA’s financial viability was compromised as a result of separating Shannon Airport, separation and independence for the airport could not have happened on December 31 last.”