Shannon staff fear airport will be sold

A general meeting of Shannon airport staff is to be held early next week amid indications that the Government is considering selling Shannon to pursue a "two airport" strategy.

A special bulletin is to be distributed today to airport staff by the SIGNAL workers group outlining its fears if the Government proceeds with the break-up of Aer Rianta to allow it to pursue a plan for airports in Dublin and Cork only. With a Cabinet decision due in the second or third week of September on the future structure of Aer Rianta, a spokesman for SIGNAL said it has been alarmed by feedback from highly placed contacts that Cabinet support is growing for a break-up of Aer Rianta which would see Shannon going it alone.

The spokesman said if the plan proceeded, Shannon would lose its Aer Rianta identity and the airport's status would be reduced to that of a regional airport, which would have serious implications for the airport and the region.

Reports that the Government is considering selling Shannon airport come despite a recommendation from a consultants' report submitted to Government last April recommending Government approval for the "development of Aer Rianta as a strong Irish company through investment in its three airport system".

Earlier this week, a delegation from SIGNAL met the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, to voice worker disquiet over the possible sale of Shannon.

At the one-hour meeting in Shannon, the delegation presented the Minister with a document outlining reasons why Shannon should not be sold and why it should stay within the Aer Rianta grouping.

Signal secretary Mr Joe Buckley said yesterday the group told the Minister that Shannon would be put in a weakened position if it split from the other airports. "You have to be part of a large group to actually survive in airport management," Mr Buckley added.

"You cannot go it alone and it is a fairytale view that some quarters have put forward and it certainly would not work." SIGNAL points out Shannon is in a recovery phase requiring the confidence-inspiring resources, budgets and capacity that only Aer Rianta can provide, rather than a private enterprise operation squeezing out profits at the expense of quality.

A spokeswoman for Minister O'Rourke said yesterday that no conclusion has been reached by the Government in relation to the sale of Shannon. She said the Minister was personally committed to keeping Shannon within the framework of Aer Rianta, adding that she had recently met a number of interested parties in relation to the future of the airport.