Editorial: Waterford Airport’s fairy godmother?

Waterford Airport may have found its fairy godmother. On the cusp of a significant investment deal that would allow the airport to go it alone, without government support, the ball now seems to be in the court of Waterford City and County Council.

Councillors met on Monday about the ‘hush-hush’ deal, with lips tightly sealed for fear of jeopardizing what is seen as potentially the most positive development in relation to the airport for quite some time.

Monday’s meeting was a ‘workshop’, which will be followed by a special meeting of the Plenary Council on October 20, when councillors will vote on whether to accept the proposal, which involves releasing adjacent lands of 100 acres owned by the Council and ceding its 2% shareholding in the airport.

The Bolster Group, which is currently the main shareholder at 37%, will take a minority stake, while the Comer Group will not be involved.

The Comer Group had previously agreed to invest in the airport, alongside the Bolster Group, on the condition that it would also have government funding.

The council has contributed more than €1.3 million in ongoing funding to the airport since 2019.

After yesterday’s workshop, councillors had still not been informed of the identity of the investor – who reports suggest may be American, with, not surprisingly, very deep pockets.

Ahead of the October 20 vote, this unusual situation has left many councillors concerned.

The deal on the table would see the airport able to move forward with the development of the long-sought extension to its runway, thus making it suitable for commercial airlines.

To reject this offer, Waterford Airport is back to the will they, won’t they game of politics that has dragged on since the last government.

Having previously been led on something of a merry dance over private investment in the North Quays, it is understandable that councillors will be hesitant.

However, it is not unusual for private investors to back regional airports as a type of passion project.

Kildare’s Weston Airport is co-owned by John Collison, the billionaire co-founder of payments giant Stripe.

Collison regularly flies his own plane. Last year, Weston received a capital injection of €18.9 million to finance its expansion. (Collison and a group of investors acquired Weston Airport in 2021 from Galway builder Brian Connelly.)

We are all familiar with the success story that is Knock Airport. Perhaps, less well known in the Déise is the story behind its establishment.

Monsignor James Horan, parish priest of Knock in the 1980s, famously made sure a runway with a length capable of taking jet aircraft was built… by starting it from either end, making it difficult to deny funding to complete the runway in the middle!

But government funding, then as now, was only released after a relentless campaign, and not by every government at the time. Fianna Fáil proved more favourable.

Monsignor Horan also had to take his campaign overseas to achieve enough funding. It was the ultimate passion project, for which Connacht remains indebted to the determined Horan.

Airports are an expensive business, but, just like Horan, there is nothing to say this won’t be the investor the Déise will be hailing for decades to come, and the one who firmly puts the townland of Killowen on the map.