THE CHAIRMAN of the Shannon Airport Authority Brian O’Connell has said it needs to change its business model if it is to have a financially viable future.
“It is clear that the ways and means we have organised and managed business in the past have to change, to take into account the reality of present and future market challenges,” Mr O’Connell said yesterday.
“It is no longer sustainable for any business to continue in a loss-making mode.
“Every business, including Shannon airport, must reconfigure itself and re-engineer its future in the light of the dramatically changed economic landscape.”
Shannon is currently loss-making.
In March, David Dilger, the then chairman of the Dublin Airport Authority, which has responsibility for Shannon, said the Co Clare airport recorded a loss of €8 million last year.
Mr O’Connell’s comments were made in letters sent to local media.
He did not outline what proposals the SAA submitted to Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar, following his request in June for its view on the separation of the three Dublin Airport Authority airports.
The authority had considered a “wide range of options” to “optimise and maximise” Shannon’s “commercial potential”.
Mr O’Connell added that it had “examined locations similar to Shannon around the world, which are operating successfully”.
