State pumps over €4m into Cork and Shannon airports
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Cork and Shannon airports are set to benefit from a €4.2m Government package of support measures to implement sustainability plans.
The funding comes after a review was published which highlighted the “financial challenges” that regional airports face when meeting their carbon reduction targets, said freshly appointed Transport Minister James Lawless.
The money is set to be used to expand the scope of sustainability projects funded under the Regional Airports Programme 2021-2025 in relation to projects with a focus on the production of electricity from renewable sources such as Solar PV farms.
“This investment builds on the €5.6m capital funding announced for Ireland West, Kerry and Donegal airports on 25 April,” said Mr Lawless.
The Mid-term Review of the Regional Airports Programme 2021-2025 found that Ireland has established international connectivity through its five regional airports with the UK, Europe and the US but further consideration may need to be given to better support connectivity and regional development.
CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB
Overall passenger traffic across regional airports last year increased by 9% when compared with pre-pandemic levels in 2019 as pent-up demand continues to fuel the tourism industry despite cost pressures weighing on consumers over the last three years.
Meanwhile, Mr Lawless also said he has asked his department to enter into talks with relevant stakeholders in an effort to develop a so-called ‘Start-up Aid Scheme’ for airlines, “to further support new strategic route development to and from our regions.”
The review comes just over one year after a business representative group said Cork and Shannon airport should receive government funding and their capacity better utilised rather than further developing Dublin Airport.
Seán Golden, chief economist and director of policy with Limerick Chamber, said at the time that there was an “over reliance” on Dublin Airport despite there being a “large, underutilised capacity in regional airports”.
He said that developing further connections to Europe through airports such as Cork and Shannon is vital to the economic and social development of the region.
Last week, The daa indicated it will drop airport charges to near zero for airlines willing to move routes from Dublin to Cork in a bid to circumvent a strict cap on passenger numbers.
Airlines will be offered reductions on airport charges over a two-and-a-half-year period if they move an existing route to Cork. Airport operator daa, which runs both airports, announced the scheme on Tuesday hoping to avoid any situation where airlines move aircraft from Dublin to airports in other countries.
Under Dublin Airport’s planning permission, it is limited to managing 32 million passengers a year. Last year, it came close to breaching that limit, with a final reported tally of 31.9 million passengers passing through the terminal which means it cannot grow further.
It has submitted a planning application seeking to increase the cap but the process will take a number of months, if not years.
Cork Airport saw passenger numbers reach 2.8 million last year with the airport expecting to breach the three million mark this year.
Publishing a report on the economic impact that Cork Airport has on the wider economy, daa CEO Kenny Jacobs said Dublin Airport is restricted while Cork has the ambition and the capacity to grow to five million passengers per year.
He said that for the next 30 months airlines that move routes and traffic from Dublin to Cork will be offered lower charges to keep the aircraft in the country and have already begun talks with airlines about the incentive scheme.