DAA (Irish company)
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DAA (styled "daa"), previously Dublin Airport Authority, is a commercial semi-state airport company in Ireland. The company owns and operates
Dublin Airport Dublin Airport ( Irish: ''Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath'') is an international airport serving Dublin, Ireland. It is operated by DAA (formerly Dublin Airport Authority). The airport is located in Collinstown, north of Dublin, and south o ...
and
Cork Airport Cork Airport ( ga, Aerfort Chorcaí, ) is the second-largest of the three principal international airports in Ireland, after Dublin and ahead of Shannon. It is located in Cork City, south of the city centre in an area known as Farmers Cro ...
. Its other subsidiaries include the travel retail business
Aer Rianta International Aer Rianta International cpt (ARI) is an airport and retail holding and management company, registered in Dublin and with its head office at Dublin Airport. ARI is a subsidiary of Ireland's state-owned DAA. The company was established in 1988 as ...
and DAA International. DAA previously owned and operated
Shannon Airport Shannon Airport ( ga, Aerfort na Sionainne) is an international airport located in County Clare in the Republic of Ireland. It is adjacent to the Shannon Estuary and lies halfway between Ennis and Limerick. The airport is the third busiest ai ...
before Shannon Airport became a separate state-owned airport at the end of 2012. The company also owned
Great Southern Hotels Great Southern Hotels was a chain of hotels owned by Irish semi-state airport operator Aer Rianta; and eventually broken up in 2006. The chain was bought by Aer Rianta from fellow semi-state company CIÉ for IE£10m in 1990. CIÉ, as operato ...
, which had nine sites throughout the island of Ireland, until its sale in 2006. DAA's head office is located in the original passenger terminal on the grounds of Dublin Airport.


History


Aer Rianta

Aer Rianta was founded in 1937 as ''Aer Rianta Teoranta'' and the name is derived from the
Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...
for "air ways" or "air tracks"; ''
Teoranta A private company limited by shares is a class of private limited company incorporated under the laws of England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, certain Commonwealth countries, and the Republic of Ireland. It has shareholders with limit ...
'' is the Irish word for ''Limited''. Aer Rianta was to serve as a holding company for the national airline and to promote aviation generally. In 1947, Aer Rianta started the
duty-free shop A duty-free shop (or store) is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, w ...
concept in the Shannon Airport and are credited with the invention of duty-free shops in airports. Aer Rianta was the principal shareholder of
Aer Lingus Aer Lingus ( ; an anglicisation of the Irish , meaning "air fleet" compare Welsh 'llynges awyr') is the flag carrier of Ireland. Founded by the Irish Government, it was privatised between 2006 and 2015 and it is now a wholly owned subsidiar ...
during the airline's early days, until 1966. Aer Rianta began managing the Dublin Airport in the 1940s. Under the Air Navigation and Transport Act of 1950, Aer Rianta was given legal responsibility for the airport. In 1954, Prof. Patrick Lynch was appointed chairman of Aer Rianta. He retired from the position in 1975. In 1966, the passage of the Air Companies Act enabled the transfer of Aer Lingus shares to the Minister of Finance, and separate boards were appointed to each company. A general manager of Aer Rianta was appointed in 1968. On 1 April 1969, Cork and Shannon Airports became the responsibility of the company. In 1988, Aer Rianta International (ARI) was created to pursue international potential to the company's growth not related to Irish airport management – for example, opening Russia's first duty free in Moscow in 1988. In 1998, ''Aer Rianta Teoranta'' became ''Aer Rianta cpt'' and kept this name until 2004.


Dublin Airport Authority/DAA

In 2004, the
Oireachtas The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the bicameral parliament of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: *The President of Ireland *The two houses of the Oireachtas ( ga, Tithe an Oireachtais): ** Dáil Éireann ...
passed the ''State Airports Act, 2004''. This renamed ''Aer Rianta cpt'' as ''Dublin Airport Authority plc'', and established ''Shannon Airport Authority plc'' and ''Cork Airport Authority plc''. The three new authorities have power to formulate business plans for their respective airports, however they will not take charge of running the airports until further date to be determined by the
Minister for Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...
, which by law would not be before 1 May 2005. this had yet to take place. Significant outstanding issues to be resolved include competitiveness and debit restructuring. The company also retains its significant shareholdings in foreign airports such as Düsseldorf and Larnaca, through its wholly owned subsidiary ARI,
Aer Rianta International Aer Rianta International cpt (ARI) is an airport and retail holding and management company, registered in Dublin and with its head office at Dublin Airport. ARI is a subsidiary of Ireland's state-owned DAA. The company was established in 1988 as ...
. The State Airports Act was heavily criticised by Noel Hanlon, the outgoing chairman of Aer Rianta, and by the company's unions, who believed it a precursor to
privatisation Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
. No act to privatise Dublin Airport Authority or any of the airports has been passed however. The Dublin Airport Authority was officially renamed DAA with effect from November 2014. In 2016, DAA paid a €18.3m dividend to the State, its first since 2009. In August 2017,
Dalton Philips Timothy David Dalton Philips (born 18 February 1968) is an Irish businessman. He was the CEO of the UK supermarket chain Morrisons from January 2010 until March 2015, when he was succeeded by David Potts. He is currently the chief executive of ...
was named CEO. In May 2018, Basil Geoghegan was named chairman of the company.


Great Southern Hotels

In 1990, the nine
Great Southern Hotels Great Southern Hotels was a chain of hotels owned by Irish semi-state airport operator Aer Rianta; and eventually broken up in 2006. The chain was bought by Aer Rianta from fellow semi-state company CIÉ for IE£10m in 1990. CIÉ, as operato ...
were purchased from Córas Iompair Éireann, and sold again in 2006. Edward Holdings, a company controlled by Galway businessman Gerry Barrett bought the Killarney, Eyre Square and Corrib hotels, while Dublin developer Bernard McNamara has bought the Parknasilla hotel in County Kerry. A company controlled by Ronan McArdle, Frank McArdle, Alan McIntosh and the Walsh brothers has acquired the three airport hotels at Dublin, Cork and Shannon.


Airports and operations


Dublin Airport

Dublin Airport Dublin Airport ( Irish: ''Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath'') is an international airport serving Dublin, Ireland. It is operated by DAA (formerly Dublin Airport Authority). The airport is located in Collinstown, north of Dublin, and south o ...
is the state's largest airport. It handled 31.5m passengers in 2018. A court case arose in 2014 regarding a proposed
contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
to be let by daa for a range of airport facilities services at Dublin Airport. OCS One Complete Solution, the incumbent contractor, challenged the daa's decision to award a new contract to Maybin Support Services Ltd., which led to a High Court hearing. Provisions under EU utilities procurement regulations, which include procurement in the transport sector, require an option for unsuccessful tenderers to be able to challenge an award decision if they have suitable grounds and provide for an automatic suspension of the new contract award process until the challenge has been resolved. This was the first occasion when the High Court ruled on a request for this automatic suspension to be lifted. The court ruled in favour of leaving the suspension in place.


Cork Airport

*
Cork Airport Cork Airport ( ga, Aerfort Chorcaí, ) is the second-largest of the three principal international airports in Ireland, after Dublin and ahead of Shannon. It is located in Cork City, south of the city centre in an area known as Farmers Cro ...
is the state's second largest airport. *Handled 2.3 million passengers in 2017.


Other operations

Aer Rianta International Aer Rianta International cpt (ARI) is an airport and retail holding and management company, registered in Dublin and with its head office at Dublin Airport. ARI is a subsidiary of Ireland's state-owned DAA. The company was established in 1988 as ...
operates travel retail/duty free outlets in 10 countries, with stores in countries such as
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
,
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
and
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
. It also has outlets in several countries in the Middle East and in 2015 won a 10-year contract to operate duty-free stores at the new Midfield Terminal Building in
Abu Dhabi International Airport Abu Dhabi International Airport ( ar, مطار أبو ظبي الدولي) is an international airport in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The airport, located east of Abu Dhabi city, is the second largest ...
. In 2016, DAA International won the contract to manage the new Terminal 5 at King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.


Dublin Airport Delays

On 1 June 2022, daa chief executive
Dalton Philips Timothy David Dalton Philips (born 18 February 1968) is an Irish businessman. He was the CEO of the UK supermarket chain Morrisons from January 2010 until March 2015, when he was succeeded by David Potts. He is currently the chief executive of ...
was called to appear before the
Oireachtas The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the bicameral parliament of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: *The President of Ireland *The two houses of the Oireachtas ( ga, Tithe an Oireachtais): ** Dáil Éireann ...
transport committee. following multiple days of prolonged queues, more than 1,000 passengers missing a flight in one day and providing no guarantee that such queues would not return was described by Minister of State in the Department of Finance,
Seán Fleming Seán Fleming (born 27 February 1958) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs since December 2022. He previously served as Minister of State at the Department of Finance from ...
as a "reflection of bad management, full stop". The
Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the of ...
said the delays are "unacceptable for passengers and their families." In May 2021,
Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters is ...
had defended the decision to lay off 2,000 of daa's 7,750 staff, despite the
State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...
backstop in place at the time as necessary stating "if you had that ailoutmentality, it’s all over...we have to carry our own water." The decision to fire so many staff was criticised in June 2022 in
Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland rea ...
, with deputies claiming that the resultant airport delays had made Ireland in to a "laughing stock".


References


External links


DAAAer Rianta InternationalDAA International
{{authority control 1937 establishments in Ireland Airport operators Transport companies of the Republic of Ireland Companies based in Swords, Dublin State-sponsored bodies of the Republic of Ireland Dublin Airport