Knock airport ‘heading for crisis’ - Murray

Knock airport ‘heading for crisis’ – Murray


Edwin McGreal

Knock airport is ‘heading for crisis’ unless the Government intervenes immediately.
That’s the view of Sinn Féin’s Cllr Gerry Murray, who was speaking at the launch of the party’s local election campaign for Mayo on Tuesday last.
Charlestown-based Cllr Murray said the ongoing indecision over government investment in the airport was ‘a huge issue on the doorsteps’ ahead of this month’s local elections.
“Enda Kenny is agonising over a package for it. Michael Noonan was in power eight months and he had secured €300 million for Shannon Airport. Knock is heading for crisis. They are surviving on car-parking charges.
“The runway needs to be completely replaced. They cannot take extra flights because of the facilities. They can only take four to five flights at peak times when they need to be able to take ten to be competitive,” he said.
And he expressed fears about what he referred to as ‘a privitisation agenda’ by the Irish Government and the European Union.
“The EU Commission has said that all state aid for airports should be phased out in the next ten years. How can we be lectured on the one hand on the need for balanced regional development if the means for it is removed.
“Knock has been hugely let down by previous governments and they now feel similarly about our Taoiseach. His government has spent €86 million on consultants for Irish Water, and he’s agonising about €100 million for the airport,” said Cllr Murray.
Speaking to The Mayo News this week Cllr Murray said that many sources at the airport had expressed their concerns to him.
“The airport is surviving on a shoestring. There is a need for major investment. I’m meeting pilots on a regular basis, as well as other people there. The infrastructure is totally inadequate to deal with the expansion plan of the airport. If there isn’t Government intervention, the airport is going to reach crisis point,” he concluded.