Dublin Airport Authority today announced a 54% increase in after-tax profits to €31m for last year. But the company's chairman, Gary McGann, has said the company will have to address all its loss making operations. Turnover rose by 6.6% last year to €466m.
Today's results show that the DAA's Great Southern Hotels lost €2.2m, while it is understood that Shannon Airport made losses of €2m last year.
Passenger numbers increased by 6.6% to 21.8 million across Dublin, Cork and Shannon - the highest level of growth since 2000.
Passenger numbers at Dublin Airport rose by 8% to 17.2 million, while Cork passenger numbers were up 3% to 2.25 million and Shannon numbers were flat at 2.4 million.
Announcing the company's results today, DAA Chairman Gary McGann had a tough message for the Government and unions. He said if the loss making parts of the business are not tackled, it would undermine the potential development of the Dublin Airport Authority.
Mr McGann said it is only through the successful management of commercial operations that the best interests of all those involved including employees can be secured.
His comments come after the Minister for Tourism, John O'Donoghue, warned against the closure of the loss making Great Southern Hotels.
The DAA was formed after the breakup of Aer Rianta, and it still has control of Shannon and Cork Airports.
Following recent delays at Dublin Airport, the DAA's new CEO Declan Collier said it would be his priority to improve the travelling experience. But he said any radical improvement would require investment in new terminal facilities.
He says that even if a decision to sanction new terminal facilities were made today, it would take three to four years before those facilities became fully operational.
He points out that Dublin airport charges are currently capped at €5 per passenger, about half the average level for European airports of Dublin's size. 'These charges will have to rise if DAA, or any other developer, is to invest in a terminal and other airport infrastructure,' he added.
The DAA Board has not proposed payment of a dividend to the Exchequer for last year in an effort to maximise its distributable reserves as it restructures the assets of the former Aer Rianta.
