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Weston Airport owners see valuation nearly double

Investors behind the west Dublin airport include Stripe co-founder John Collison

While the value of the terminal complex fell from €7.9m to €6.1m, the investors revalued the land and airfields around the airport at €9.7m. Photograph: Alan Betson

Barry J Whyte
Wed Apr 24 2024 - 06:00

Investors behind Weston Airport, a group that includes Stripe co-founder John Collison, have revalued the land and property at the airport from €7.9 million to €15.9 million, new company documents show.

Financial accounts for Weston Aviation Academy Limited show that over the last year, the investors have revalued the airport’s assets significantly.

While the value of the terminal complex fell from €7.9 million to €6.1 million, the investors revalued the land and airfields around the airport at €9.7 million.

It comes amid a big redevelopment of the airport since it was bought in 2021 by a consortium of investors that included Collison, Limerick-based financier Derick Walshe, as well as John Brennan, Catherine Greene and Gerald Dundon.

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Early in 2023, they secured planning permission to upgrade its terminal facilities. Planning documents at the time said the owners wanted to “create a more coherent, unified facility with improved linkages between the various buildings” to “create a more coherent and rational layout to the ground floor building”.

According to its website, Weston said that the terminal has “undergone extensive renovation with the addition of private lounges for passengers and pilot planning pods”.

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It is also investing in its security infrastructure and “can now take its place as one of the premier executive airports in Europe”, according to the website.

More recently the investors have made a planning application for a search and rescue hangar at the airport.

The latest financial statements show that the investors have pumped €15.6 million into the project over the last two years, with the accounts disclosing that “funds introduced by the shareholder” were €13.5 million in 2023, up from €2.1 million in 2022.

The accounts note that Weston Aviation Academy owes €13.5 million to creditors, almost all of which were amounts owed to group undertakings.

Weston made a loss for the year of €2.9 million, an increase on the previous year’s loss of €1.7 million, pushing its total losses to €8.6 million, up from €5.7 million the year before.

The company had 28 employees, up from 16 the year before, and its directors were paid €150,000, up from €100,000.

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