City of Derry Airport facing funding crisis
That is if funding cannot be secured from Stormont, officials have said.
A request for money was sent to the NI Executive in a business case in May, but so far the council has said no money has been agreed.
Council has requested £15m, spread over six years, to help maintain the commercial viability of the airport.
A report given to councillors pointed out that this £15m would bring a potential saving of £3.5m per year for the council, which owns the airport.
A meeting of council’s governance and strategic planning committee on Tuesday heard that the business case was sent to Stormont eight months ago to “secure the the continued sustainability of the airport”.
BBC Radio Foyle reports that Sinn Fein Finance Minister Conor Murphy has not received any funding proposals for the airport as of yet, but did meet with Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon on Wednesday to discuss the airport.
Councillors also criticised a lack of response from Economy Minister Gordon Lyons.
However, the Department for Economy have said that they do not have the legal power to fund airports.
In a statement, the Departments for Finance and Infrastructure said that both ministers recognised the strategic importance of City of Derry Airport to the north west.
“Department for Infrastructure officials will continue to work with Department of Finance officials on assessing the business case,” the joint statement read.
Meetings have taken place, and the council has been told that both ministers have agreed to meet the council again, with a date yet to be decided upon.
However, John Kelpie, the council’s chief executive, said he still had some concerns.
“We are encouraged by the support that we have received from all of the ministers, but we most definitely are concerned that eight months since submission for the business case we have received no positive outcome,” he added.
“We have reflected on the complexities of working through business cases with government departments, we also do not have any written questions in respect of that business case and that is a matter of grave concern.”
UUP councillor Ryan McCready was highly critical of the executive response so far in relation to the airport.
“It infuriates me that we at council can do everything we can do , but once it is outside of our remit in the assembly then no action is being taken,” he said.
Council officials have said that if they did not see progress by the end of this financial year on the airport then they would need to draw on reserve funding.
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