Council defends airport losing more than £1 million a year » Local Government » 24dash.com

A publicly-owned airport losing more than £1 million a year was a good example of a council acting for its ratepayers, a tribunal heard today.

In a landmark case, airport owner Derry City Council is appealing against a ruling that it must reveal a secret deal with Ryanair.

The disclosure order followed a Freedom of Information request, and it is believed the outcome could impact on all UK public bodies doing business with private companies.

The three-panel tribunal - sitting for the first time in Northern Ireland - heard closing arguments from Derry City Council in the two-day hearing.

The council's barrister, Jason Coppel, said the case boiled down to whether a public body can have the commercial freedom to operate in an open market.

Such authorities may have a competitive disadvantage over private companies if forced to disclose information considered commercially sensitive, he said.

City of Derry Airport was a good example of a public body trying to do its the best for ratepayers, he told the tribunal sitting at Derry Courthouse.

He insisted it was not the tribunal's job to decide if the council's annual subvention of the loss-making airport was state aid and should not proceed on that basis.

City of Derry Airport manager Seamus Devine and the council's chief executive, Anthony McGurk, have already given evidence.

No witnesses will be called from the Information Commissioner who ordered in February of this year that the contract must be released.

The final day's hearing is expected to centre on legal arguments and the exemptions claimed by Derry City Council under the Freedom of Information Act to withhold the documents.

An EU ruling in 2004 that Charleroi Airport, in Belgium, was acting illegally in providing state funding to Ryanair will also be raised.

Council chief Mr McGurk yesterday confirmed that the airport was costing ratepayers in the region of £1.3 million a year, and that Derry householders pay among the highest rates in Northern Ireland.

He agreed that there was considerable public debate about council spending on the airport, but would not accept that it would be better informed if the secret deal was disclosed.

Mr Devine said the airport would not make money for some time to come, claiming most small, regional, European airports do not turn a profit.

The hearing went into private session on a number of occasions because commercial information about airlines and the council was being discussed.

Copyright Press Association 2006