A €30 million private investment into Waterford Airport has been approved by Waterford City and County Council following a long-running public funding bid to lengthen its runway to attract commercial airlines.
Local councillors were not informed of the identity of the investor in advance of the vote to approve the investment.
The council has helped to fund shortfalls at the airport since 2016 and will be forgiving a loan of €670,000 to enable the investment. Waterford council also owns a small minority stake in the company. It will waive its shareholding and will be disposing of an 84-hectare landholding to enable the development.
The land, which was valued at €2.295 million by independent real estate agent Avison Young, will be disposed for €50,000 with an anti-embarrassment clause attached. The lands will only be sold when the airport development works are completed.
RM Block
The chief executive of the council, Sean McKeown, recommended councillors take the deal in light of the “absence of any viable alternative investment proposal, the imminent financial risk to the airport, and the clear and measurable economic and social benefits” of the investment.
The investor, who is understood to be an American of significant wealth, will take a majority share in the airport, which will retain its existing staff.
Due to the investor’s status as a non-EU resident, the deal will be subject to inward investment screening by the Department of Enterprise, which typically takes 90 days.
The council said that the investor’s legal representative, Mason Hayes & Curran, had confirmed that the investor is a “US national with significant business interests and that they have the financial capacity to deliver the project”.
The agreement includes a clause that the sale of the land will only take effect once the full development works at the airport have been completed.
The airport’s single largest shareholder, the Bolster Group, had been in negotiations with the Department of Transport for public funding for a number of years, securing an “expression of support” for a public-private funding agreement in 2019.
William Bolster of the Bolster Group described the approval as “fantastic news”.
“The councillors should be commended for taking such a brave decision to move forward,” he said, noting the development would create more than 100 jobs during construction.
The planned development will see the 1,433m-long runway extended by more than 800m and widened to 45m to attract commercial carriers to a new, jet-suitable runway. The airport is also home to a search-and-rescue service helicopter crew, which will not be affected by the deal.
The airport’s private shareholders had originally received a commitment for €5 million of public funding to enable the extension when the total cost estimate of the project was €12 million.
As the airport engaged with the department on public spending guidelines, construction cost inflation led to the cost estimate rising significantly to more than €27 million by 2024.
