Council Chief: ‘no Airbus proposal for airport site’

Galway City Tribune – The Chief Executive of Galway City Council said this week there was ‘no proposal’ on the table from the giant Airbus aviation company as regards any leasing deal on the airport site at Carnmore.

Brendan McGrath told councillors that while he had seen this report [of Airbus having an interest in leasing the facility] ‘on the paper’, there was no such proposal on the table.

Mr McGrath said that by Quarter 2 of next year, he would be bringing back a report to the City Council on the options for the airport, adding that he ‘wouldn’t rule anything out’ on the future of the 115-acre site.

“There are a lot of options. One of these could be the use of the site as a business hub with a runway. The site though will be worth a multiple of what we paid for it over the coming years,” said the Chief Executive.

Councillors at this week’s local authority meeting wanted to get more information on what was happening with the airport site – Cllr Pádraig Conneely said that the place was becoming ‘dilapidated and falling asunder’.

“It is an asset, but what progress has been made in terms of moving this on. We just seem to be getting report after report but nothing seems to be happening,” said Cllr Conneely.

Cllr Donal Lyons asked whether it would ever open as an airport again while Cllr Peter Keane said that the Council was now waiting three years for a report on its viability. Cllr Mark Lohan said that the facility was no longer fit for purpose for commercial aviation use.
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