CORK - 5

[en2r]

Dempsey warns over Cork airport debt

From the RTE website

Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey has warned that he may have to re-consider separating Cork Airport from the Dublin Airport Authority unless the row over Cork's €220m debt is solved.
Minister Dempsey has appointed former ICTU General Secretary Peter Cassells to mediate between the Cork Airport Authority and the DAA, and he has given the parties a month to settle their differences.
And he warned that if the parties fail to agree a solution in that time, he will review the policy of creating an independent airport company for Cork and he will bring alternative proposals to Cabinet.
The debt has been a major issue since the Cork Airport Authority was established in August 2004.
The debt is central to the break-up of Dublin, Cork and Shannon Airports and the establishment of the three as independent, competing, commercial entities.
Cork claims it was promised that it would begin its commercial life debt-free, but the DAA is equally adamant that it will not pick up the tab either and that it will not engage with Cork unless it agrees to pay at least €100m of the debt.

[Tom the Tenor]

At least full landing fees are due to Cork Airport from all Dublin flights. However, as Caracassone is just seasonal rather than year round does the route qualify for any kind of incentive for Ryanair or will they be paying the full whack in fees?

Did everyone get up late today or what as it seems the latest big news about Cork Airport has so far been missed? Late last night it was announced that the former head of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Mr Peter Cassells has been appointed by the Irish Minister for Transport to mediate between the Cork Airport Authority and the Dublin Airport Authority over the continuing row about the Euro 200 million debt on Cork Airport's new terminal.

This is a most interesting development from a political point of view as Mr Cassells is certainly a big hitter in the negotiation business. He was recently involved as a mediator in the very bitter Corrib gas field dispute in County Mayo. Shell want to bring the gas ashore for onward processing and some in the local community want the process done at a facility out at sea. Lots of angry protests from folk opposing Shell, Gardai baton charging protesters, people in jail etc. Very nasty looking stuff to watch on TV in the last year or so.

How well Mr Cassells deals with Cork Vs Dublin is hard to say. Cork want a free terminal as promised by the Government as a prelude to independence from the all powerful Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) and the bullies in Dublin want Cork to pay up to help pay for some of Dublin Airport's new terminal and new runway!

The Transport Minister is suggesting that if through the good offices of Mr Cassells that the Cork Airport Authority and Dublin Airport Authority fail to agree a settlement between the two that the seperation of the all powerful DAA and it's airports may have to be called off.

I bet that would suit a lot of the precious, all chiefs and no indians ex Aer Rianta types up at Cork. One thing is for sure - as long as the DAA have a hold over Cork Airport the chances of Cork ever having a North Atlantic flight lie somewere between slim and none.

Dublin Airport has approximately 12 flights bound to the USA everyday - yet Cork Airport cannot compete for even 0.5 of that amount. Then again, one can hardly be too surprised - afterall, if revenue earning training aircraft from Waterford to Cork with some of the next generation Ryanair and Aer Lingus captains aboard are only reluctantly and quite grudingly welcomed to Cork Airport, why would anyone expect Cork to be serious about going after new business at all when all they have to do is cosy up to Ryanair angling for a few more crumbs from Mr O'Leary's and Mr Cawley's serviettes?

What fees are liable on a training aircraft visiting from Waterford to Cork Airport and what fees are liable on 189 sets jets arrving at Cork from Prestwick and East Midlands over the course of the current year?

Anyone got a contact number for Mr Cassells? A whole post and I have not mentioned Shannon even once today. What a feat!

[Charlie Roy]

Cork claims it was promised that it would begin its commercial life debt-free

It's not a claim, but a fact!

[en2r]

It's not a claim, but a fact!

Sorry I just copied and pasted the article, you're correct. If I remember rightly Seamus Brennan (then minister for transport) even said so on RTE news. I wonder could the CAA sue saying there was an oral contract to pay for the new terminal?

[840]

I've given up even commenting on the debt situation. Worst of the lot is that the DAA are quite happy to use their PR people to fight their case, but Cork Airport management can't do the same because they're employed by the DAA. That's why nobody has been able to get the Aer Rianta International issue into the media.

On to more mundane matters... What's being constructed by the bus stop? It looks like it might just be something to shelter bus passengers/smokers when it's raining and the wind is coming from the east, but just wondering.

Talking of which, I used the Skylink bus service last night. Numbers seem to have picked up on it a bit. I still think a few small route tweeks like serving the train station and having a stop in town that is served by both routes so that it has a more regular service would benefit them.

And something that is more of a pax question. Does the airport have any bike parking facilities for passengers? I'm going to be making a short day trip that will require no hand baggage, so still being in post-Christmas health kick mode, I though I might cycle up. Maybe I should be asking if there are showers

[Charlie Roy]

Sorry I just copied and pasted the article

Ya, I'm peeved with the journalists choice of words. Cork "claims" it was promised that it would begin its commercial life debt-free. There is archive footage of the former minister repeatly saying it.

[transmagnificat]

The clearest description of the Cork Airport debt situation that I have read is in the editorial of todays CORK INDEPENDENT.

'What is often forgotten however, is that it was not the Cork Airport board that built the new terminal. It was not designed to their specification and they did not oversee the budget. The terminal's construction was overseen by Air Rianta which has now become the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA). Is it reallt fair that the Cork board should be asked to pick up the tab for a project that had nothing to do with them?'

I could not agree that the 'project had nothing to do with them'

[en2r]

Air traffic controllers dispute

In a further escalation of the dispute at the IAA Cork airport will be closed tonight from midnight until 8am tomorrow morning due to no air traffic control. All flights landing flights are currently on time so hopefully there should be no diversions tonight. However, there are 8 departures before 8am tomorrow morning and one slightly after 8 (Stanstead which arrives at 7.45).
This dispute has already closed Dublin once and Shannon twice in recent weeks.

[CorkEICK]

Its interesting to note that when dublin closed it was for 3 hours and shannon likewise was also for 3 hours. However Cork is closing for 8!!!

Hope EI from Tenerife has a strong southerly wind behind them tonight

[Tom the Tenor]

Is the ATC dispute official or unofficial? Whilst there may be sympathy for the ATC controllers over the shortage of staff issues which have been coming to a head for a long while which the IAA must rightly face up to the striking controllers must really be challenged on why passengers and Cork passengers at that whom have no issue with the IAA must be so casually held to ransom by their withdrawal of labour. It does indeed raise a few eyebrows as well that the dispute at Cork is for eight hours whilst Shannon and Dublin operations were held up for just three hours.

I wonder if snn and Dublin North Atlantic arrivals between 6 am & 8 am would be as quickly hindered as Cork's departures will be tomorrow morning if the dispute drags on for another few rounds of disruption in the coming weeks?

Somehow, I rather doubt it.

[840]

Having it affect the early morning flights is a real pain because it screws up the aircraft schedule for the rest of the day and because passengers will end missing connections in Amsterdam and Heathrow. You'd think that would be the escalation step not the first one.

[CorkEICK]

RTE reports Shannon closed between 6 and 10pm this evening but I have heard at least 2 arrivals and 2 departures between 8 and 845pm tonight so far!

As such I see no reason why Cork shouldnt be able to get departures away at 630am, after all the will have been closed for almost twice as long as Shannon was tonight........

[10/28]

ATC

Tom and Co,
The reason for Cork airport closing is due illness. No other controller is willing to come in on their day off to keep airport open. The controllers are doing this to highlight the staff shortages since early 2000s and the IAAs dependence on overtime.

[en2r]

Everythings after landing before the midnight curfew so thankfully no diversions. Hopefully there won't be too much disruption in the morning. I presume they'll load all the planes and just take off in succession at 8, and presumably they'll just delay the early morning flight from Stansted by 15 minutes.

[CorkEICK]

"ATC
Tom and Co,
The reason for Cork airport closing is due illness. No other controller is willing to come in on their day off to keep airport open. The controllers are doing this to highlight the staff shortages since early 2000s and the IAAs dependence on overtime."


10/28
Not a good enough excuse that just cos one guy is sick you are going to put a whole day of operations at Cork in disarray or indeed at any other irish airport and in the process cause major inconvenience to how many thousand passengers!. I dont care how long the issue has been going on for with the IAA and I dont see how the action will solve the grievance. By the way the news reports make no mention about illness etc so the atc guys are not doing a good pr job for their side of the arguement.

[Tom the Tenor]

Yes, 10/28, by not presenting the case to the Cork travelling public as it is with a controller being out sick I think an opportunity has been lost for some local understanding for the ATC controllers side of the case. A missed opportunity, really?

Still, though, how many staff does it take to get departures off from Cork up to 8 am when operations are due to return to normal? For the want of a better term does Cork ATC have any management controllers available to help out for the short few hours up to 8 am to get the airliners into the air?

What is the position with cadet ATC controllers - how many cadets are taken on every year by the IAA and how many qualify and where do they end up working?

Still have a sense though that a hastily arranged ATC shutdown would not be implemented as readily at snn at such a critical time between roughly 6 am and 8 am with inbounds descending in off the ocean.

Then again, I am always suspicious when it comes to anything to do with snn. Cant help that!

Not the best of weeks for Cork - the last Central Wings from Wroclaw was last Tuesday and the final Warsaw also from Central Wings is on Saturday.

Budapest - gone!
Wroclaw - gone!
Warsaw - gone not once but twice from both EI and CLW.

Phew! A lot of ground to make up?

[840]

Aer Arann seem to have dropped the Edinburgh frequency to 1x daily apart from Sunday when there's 2 flights. I'm not sure if that's a reaction to Ryanair starting the Prestwick service, Aer Arann's current aircraft shortage or a combination of both.

[en2r]

Aer Arann seem to have dropped the Edinburgh frequency to 1x daily apart from Sunday when there's 2 flights. I'm not sure if that's a reaction to Ryanair starting the Prestwick service, Aer Arann's current aircraft shortage or a combination of both.

Cork lost a based aircraft, going down to two based when EI-REL went to Finland on a 6 month charter. We're due to get it back in May I think when the next ATR72 arrives from Toulouse. In the mean time there has been a number of changes to the schedule due to the loss of an aircraft. Edinburgh is down to 1 daily operated by a Galway based aircraft, Cardiff is now operated by a Dublin based aircraft, and Leeds is reduced in frequency. I have heard that the new Prestwick route has affected the Edinburgh route, but I think the shortage of aircraft is the primary reason for the reduction.

Budapest - gone!
Wroclaw - gone!
Warsaw - gone not once but twice from both EI and CLW.

Tom, its disappointing to lose the routes, but I think you can be a bit negative about Cork. I'm sure they're doing their best to get the routes back. Warsaw in particular is a very strong route, so hopefully a new operator will be found soon. Also you have to remember that these were not high density routes. The three routes amount to just 10 flights per week in total. The new daily Ryanair routes to Prestwick and East Midlands should more than make up for the loss in passenger numbers. We've coped with worse in the past, like losing the three daily Easyjet yet faced with this we actually increased passenger numbers in 2006 by more than 7%. I think the CAA are doing more than we're giving them credit for.

On another note, there was an article in today's Examiner about the Cork debt issue in which the DAA claimed that Cork had made operating profits of €25 million in the past two years. I thought the airport was only breaking even, I didn't realise it was this profitable.

[10/28]

ATC Clarification

My information was slightly incorrect last night. Nobody was sick. Each controller has a licence. Each separate rating (e.g. Cork tower, Shannon approach, Dublin tower etc) is a separate entry with separate date of expiry. Cork is so short staffed that each week a different controller from Dublin is sent down to cover the roster. When one of these controllers arrived down yesterday, s/he discovered that his/her rating had lapsed. Nobody was willing to come in to cover this staff shortfall. Hence, for safety reasons the IAA closed Cork airport for the duration of the night duty. No management have ATC ratings. Cork opened again when the day duty arrived at 8am. Dublin, Shannon and Cork are all heavily understaffed. IAA have not employed any controllers since 2004. They have issued lie after lie on their press releases. IMPACT only now responding in kind but probably too little too late. IAA claim that their ATC organisation is not "reliant upon overtime" yet over the last few weeks all 3 stations have had minor and major closures. And Tom, it is not being done deliberately as the IAA might make out, and it definitely isnt being done only at Cork. Hope I have clarified things. There is a longer thread in the ATC section.

[gaelgeoir]

Cork out again tonight

Just heard radio report that Cork tower will be closed again from midnight to 08.00 tomorrow. Fewer flights affected than this morning.