Dublin Airport manager seeking deal to lease Gannon car park

The DAA could rent an unused car park near Dublin Airport to ease its summer parking problems without triggering any competition issues, The Irish Times has learned.

The Irish Times understands that the airport authority has made a number of approaches to Gerry Gannon, the owner of the former QuickPark site on the Swords Road, about such a lease arrangement but that no deal has yet been reached.

The DAA was previously blocked from buying the site because of a ruling that it would lead to a reduction in competition. However, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has insisted that no such competition issues would arise if the airport authority were to temporarily lease the site.

In an email from the CCPC seen by The Irish Times, the commission has said that while the purchase of the site had been blocked, the authority “[informed] DAA and Gerald Gannon that a short-term arrangement by any undertaking to operate the site as a car park would not likely be a breach of competition law”.

The former QuickPark site has space for 6,200 cars and is seen as a crucial piece of infrastructure for airport passengers, particularly in the peak travel months of the summer.

The DAA struck a deal to buy the car park site in 2023, but the CCPC blocked that sale in March of this year citing “concerns that the deal would lead to higher prices and lower service quality for consumers”. The CCPC’s investigation found that if the purchase went ahead the DAA would control over 90 per cent of the car parking spaces serving Dublin Airport.

A spokesman for the DAA said that the company had decided not to appeal against the CCPC’s decision “in the interests of getting the facility’s 6,200 spaces back on the market for passengers in time for summer”.

He added that the “DAA has called on the owners of the QuickPark site and potential bidders to act swiftly in reopening the facility” because its car park spaces are “selling fast for the very busy peak summer travel period ahead, highlighting the pressing need for additional parking spaces”.

He said that the authority has “committed to keep summer 2024 prices in line with summer 2023″ and is “[exploring] if alternative summer car park sites are possible”.

The airport’s car park spaces sold out over the busy Easter travelling period, and last week via X – formerly Twitter – it warned that “parking at Dublin Airport is very busy for the coming weekend. If you can’t book the dates you are looking for please plan to travel to the airport via an alternate mode.”

DAA chief executive Kenny Jacob told RTÉ he did not expect the car park to be under pressure this summer. He said the airport was less than 50 per cent booked for the summer, and he urged travellers to book well in advance.

He also said that he had held conversations with Mr Gannon about leasing the car park site for the peak months of July, August and September.

A spokesman for Mr Gannon did not respond to a request for comment.

A spokesman for Nama, which controls a portion of Mr Gannon’s debt, said: “Nama’s policy is that sales or leases of assets that are used to secure Nama loans are conducted in a manner that obtains the best financial return for the taxpayer.”

Some people remain concerned about the effect on competition for parking around Dublin Airport, however. Senator Gerard Craughwell told The Irish Times: “For me it’s a very simple question. If it was anti-competitive to purchase the car park and operate it, it is anti-competitive to lease and operate. My key interest is the travelling public are not screwed, and I don’t care who’s screwing them.”

The CCPC confirmed that the car park “could be operated [by the DAA] on a short-term lease without raising competition concerns”, but that “it is important that the car park is operated by a company other than DAA on a lasting basis to introduce much-needed competition and lower prices”.

In the months since the competition body blocked the deal several potential buyers have expressed interest in bidding again on the QuickPark site, but no new sales process has yet been announced.