Ireland West Airport Knock An airport for growth and jobs
Corporate background
• The Airport is owned by a Trust signed in 1991 by the Minister for Transport and the Airport Trustees on behalf of the people in the West
• The Trust delegated the running of the Airport to Connaught Airport Development Company Ltd (CADCO)
• An Airport to stimulate enterprise and jobs• Any dividends or profits must be re-invested in the
company (CADCO) and therefore there are no private shareholders.
355 hectare Site
2,300m Runway
7,080m2 Terminal building
6,000 mile range
CAT II ILS low visibility landing system
25 hectare Enterprise Zone
Passenger Growth: 1986 - 2012
685,000
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
800,000
86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
Year
Passengers
2012 was the busiest year in the airport’s history!
5% growth to 685,000 passengers
28 Destinations
Performance and efficiency
• A lean, low cost airport with small management • Flights with no operational delays 99%• Staff multi-tasking 66%• Turnover €13.6m• Government subvention in 2012 €0.58m– i.e. 4% of turnover
Origin of passengers using Airport in 2012
Source: Passenger surveys 2010 - 2012
Base = 520 responses
42%
14%
1% 1%
52%
18%
30%
21%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
2012 Survey
Good spread of counties visited by tourists from Europe in 2012
Regional Economic Return
• Direct employment 150• Jobs supported in wider region 900• Number of tourism bed nights
900,000• Regional tourism spend €111m• Employee tax/PRSI pd to Exchequer €1m• Annual contribution to GVA €17m• Regional jobs impacted by airport 6,200
The Social Dividend
New Route Development-UK
New Route Development-Europe
Proposals to Government in 2011/2012• Grow passenger numbers to 1.25m• Double tourism spend to
€240m• Support a total number of jobs 1,900• Increase Government tax revenues to €45m• Attract new enterprise park jobs 500
Cost of investment over 5 years €75mJoint strategic planning requested by airport for financing growth and jobs targets
Minister urges change ofGov. policy to curtail Knock “If nothing was done for Shannon the airport
stood in danger of being passed out by Knock airport in passenger numbers, despite a current gap of over 900,000 passengers …I think if the trends continue as they are it will happen because Shannon’s numbers are already down 20 per cent this year and Knock is still growing. It is only a matter of time without a change in policy.” Irish Times 31st March 2012
Government Response
• Ireland West Airport Knock is a ‘private owned entity’
• No revenue support for the airport post 2014• Refusal to engage in a joint plan• Fear that Ireland West Airport Knock will
overtake Shannon Airport in terms of passenger numbers
• Acceleration of efforts to finance Shannon Airport
Gov. Investment in Shannon
• Investment package totalling €300m • Debt financing €100m+• Transfer of annual rental income to airport €12m• Transfer of assets worth €90m • Provision of cash flow in January 2013 €6.7m• Freeing up of pension liabilities & the sale of other assets• Indication of more incentives which other airports “can apply
for” but which Shannon Airport is able to use immediately• “Shannon is in the best place to avail of any tax breaks, even if
they do apply to other airports.” Minister Varadkar 3rd Jan. 2013
Our position on Government’sdecisions on Shannon• We are supportive of Shannon Airport and its
region as part of the West of Ireland• Have a history of working in co-operation with
Shannon• However both airports compete in the same
markets• Government decision is unfair, anti-
competitive, possibly illegal and damaging Ireland West Airport Knock
Market distortion
• Government ignored its own advisors Booz and Co who evaluated the prospects for Cork and Shannon airports in 2012.
• Government was warned not to proceed with a support package for Shannon Airport without clear consideration of the competitive implications for other airports.
Shannon/Knock comparisonprior to Dec 2012 SNN package
Comparison criteria Shannon Airport
Ireland West Knock
Commercial passenger numbers 2012 1.3m 0.685m
Passenger performance in past 5 years 63% fall 20% rise
Government investment in past 10 years €160m €15m
Annual net loss levels c. €8m €0.6m
Cost per passenger of sustaining these losses €6.10 €0.87
Additional annual subvention of Air Traffic Control costs
c. €3m €0
Investment in State airports compared to KnockInvestment period State
airportsIreland West Knock
Multiple
Capital investment 2003 - 2012
DAA€1.6bn
€15m 107
Investment 2012 - 2014
Shannon€300m
€4.1m 73
Potential risks to IWA Knock
• Passenger and tourism losses 300,000• Revenue losses to region up to €240m• Direct threat to jobs 3,500• Damaged ability to attract new jobs 500• Future viability seriously threatened
An Airport for Jobs and Growth
On behalf of the Board of Ireland West Airport Knock, we
thank you for your time and look forward to working with
you into the future for the benefit of the region.