Aviation got €521m of public money under its pandemic wings

A Department of Public Expenditure review casts light on the huge sums of public money provided to help aviation through the pandemic. The running total is €521 million – and counting. More aid will be needed next year.

But who got what? Airports and airlines were beneficiaries, in the amount of €267 million by the end of June, of aid such as wage subsidies. Then there were individual supports.

Aer Lingus, sister carrier these days of British Airways and Spain’s Iberia, is no longer State-owned. But it was a big beneficiary, receiving a €150 million debt facility via the Pandemic Stabilisation and Recovery Fund, a creature of the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund. To date Aer Lingus has drawn down €75 million. The ISIF entity also participated, to the tune of €40 million, in a €500 million Dublin Airport Authority bond.

‘Non-reimbursable supports’

The review said the State provided such loans at commercial rates and noted that some countries granted favourable low-interest aviation loans and/or state guarantees. Still, the State provided a “considerable number of non-reimbursable supports” for grants totalling €64 million. This was in contrast to the soft loan/guarantee approach elsewhere.

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Cork and Shannon airports received €32.1 million in capital and operational grants. Dublin, Cork and Shannon separately received €20 million in damages compensation grants while Ireland West Knock, Kerry and Donegal received €6 million. Shannon also received a further €6.1 million for a €12 million hold baggage screening project.

Regional airport programme funding rises to €36 million next year from €21 million, to bring Cork and Shannon airports into the scheme. A further €90 million will be available to Dublin, Cork and Shannon for discount and rebate passenger charges to incentivise airlines. After brutal setbacks, survival doesn’t come cheap.