|
Innsight talks Padraig O Ceidigh, CEO, Aer Arann Express about his career todate and the main obstacles facing internal access in Ireland. |
||
 A review of Ireland’s transport infrastructure is urgently needed, according to Padraig O Ceidigh, the chief executive and owner of Aer Arann Express. While various administrations have studied aspects of the transport system and changes are being made, as with Luas right now, it is his contention that we have "never looked at all of transport in Ireland" in a single, focussed exercise. Ok, so why wouldn’t he, you might think – sure isn’t his business transporting people? That is certainly the case. Aer Arann is now Ireland’s largest regional airline, and one of the fastest growing in Europe. But his call for a transport study is not purely driven out of self-interest. O Ceidigh points out how "not one single Irish airport is linked in any useful manner to a train service". When you think about that for a moment then you will probably agree he has something. The absence of dedicated commuter transport links between railways and access points, such as airports and ferry terminals, "would be seen as a scandal abroad", he rightly states. Entire Examination of Transport Systems O Ceidigh is looking for a White Paper to be commissioned by the Minister for Transport – an examination of the entire transport systems. "I would like them to look at the whole lot holistically in an effort to establish the very best means of moving people and cargo around the country in the most seamless fashion". Padraig O Ceidigh is a very interesting man. A trained accountant who swapped ledgers and trial balances for the classroom and a career teaching maths. If that was not brave enough, Galway-born O Ceidigh then studied law and, when he had qualified as a solicitor, opened a practice in his home city. It was not long, however, before he was off on his fourth career change and into the airline business, where he is now a successful entrepreneur. |
From Accountancy to Airlines He trained as a chartered accountant with KPMG and spent most of those years with the firm around the country, including a stint in Limerick. Qualified, he returned to Galway with a local firm, but quickly decided that accountancy was not the career for him. "I didn’t find it too exciting, I’m afraid, and decided it was time to have a go at teaching", he recalls. He joined the Jesuit boys school in the city, Colaiste Iognaid, and spent the following 11 years there, teaching maths. In the early 1990s, he decided to take a career break and try his hand as a solicitor. "I liked the court work but, as with accountancy, found the desk-bound side of legal work quite boring". Though the legal practice was "growing and getting bigger all the time", O Ceidigh did not hesitate too long when the opportunity of yet another career switch came alone. He saw the chance to become part owner of Aer Arann as too good a challenge to let slip and went for it. It has meant putting his personal assets on the line, but it’s not a move he regrets. The airline dates back to 1970 when a number of local businessmen and Aran Islander Colie Hernan started a daily flight service to the Arans. They ran the service up to the 1980s when Manchester-based Irishman Tim Kilroe took it over. He managed the airline at a distance until 1994 when O Ceidigh and a local business acquaintance Eugene O’ Kelly acquired the company. 11 Routes/170 Employees They continued the Aran Island service but also set about transforming Aer Arann into a truly regional airline. The name was changed to Aer Arann Express in 1998, an office was opened in Dublin and the first non-Aran service, the Dublin-Donegal route, was started. The transformation to island hopper to regional airline had truly begun. Dublin-Sligo followed the year after and today the company flies 11 separate routes, including services to a number of UK regional airports from Cork and Dublin. The transformation in the airline has been nothing short of spectacular. Three years back it was carrying some 8,000 passengers per annum. By this summer’s peak some half a million fliers (on an annualised basis) will be travelling Aer Arann Express. The company now employs 170 people and has just taken delivery of two new 66 seater ATR72s from Airbus on a lease/purchase agreement valued by O Ceidigh at $19m. |
Aer Arann Express only carries passengers right now and this is going to be the company’s focus for at least the next 18 months. With the profile of its passengers predominantly Irish, Aer Arann is effectively providing a domestic-based shuttle service between the regions, and a feeder service from the regions into the UK and beyond. O Ceidigh says the airline is now "in a high-growth phase" of its development, and that is the way he would ideally like to keep it. He is not prepared to detail his expansion plans "for competitive reasons", but says they will need further investment in the business if his vision is to be fulfilled. O Ceidigh is now the sole shareholder, having bought out O’Kelly a year back. He says he has had approaches from investors keen to buy into the business, and has now appointed the Investment Bank of Ireland to evaluate such approaches and advise the company on how best to go forward from here. He believes the company has considerable scope yet to further develop its shuttle services within the island and also to add routes into the UK. Bristol and Southampton are the latest destinations added. More Marketing Abroad Needed He is not exactly happy with the way in which Ireland is being marketed abroad as a tourist destination. In particular, he feels the focus is too much on Dublin, and that incoming visitors to Dublin Airport do not know of the potential to connect to regional airports like Cork, Kerry, Galway etc. "We need to create a great awareness that people can fly on to these centres". He is definitely a fan of Jim McDaid, the outgoing Minister for Tourism and Sport who he says had "a strong focus and interest in tourism". "Foot and mouth could have wiped us all out", he claims, adding how McDaid’s shrewd move to bring Bill Clinton over here during that crisis helped swing American sentiment back in our favour. "It showed Americans that you could walk on the ground here without being diseased", he says. O Ceidigh believes the regional airports are doing a great job on "very little resources". He would like to see more of them and see them better support and resourced. O Ceidigh continues to live in Galway though he spends quite a bit of his time in Dublin. |
The
landmark Hotel scooped two prestigous awards recently at the
IFEX 2002 Salon Culanaire Competition in the Kings Hall Belfast.
Chef Shawn Hanna was awarded bronze medal for his culinary skill
and Caroline Moore was awarded the National Apprentice of the
year for Restaurant Service.
The
Trident Hotels’ Savannah Waterfront Restaurant has been
awarded two dining awards from the RAC. Head Chef Gerry O’Connor
says he is delight to add this prestigious award to the AA Rosette
awards that he and his team have received every year for the
past decade.
Pictured at the official
opening of Ashlee Lodge a new guesthouse in Blarney, Co. Cork,
are (l-r) Cllr. Dan Flemming, Blarney; Mr. Dan Wallace TD, Minister
of State, Dept. of Environment and John & Anne O' Leary,
proprietors of Ashlee Lodge.
New
to Dublin’s cosmopolitan Temple Bar is the Morgan Bar at
the Morgan Hotel. Decorated in Pale beige and cream tones with
polished floors and soft brown leather seating, this bar offers
customers a relaxing atmosphere coupled with sophisticated style.
The first Ireland’s Best Service Excellence
Awards of 2002 were presented to seven top tourism and
leisure establishments by the outgoing Minister of State at the
Department of Tourism, Sport & Recreation, Eoin Ryan TD at
a function in Cert House, Dublin, recently.
Siobhan
Maher has been appointed General Manager of Glenlo Abbey Hotel
Originally from Loughrea, Siobhan is a graduate of GMIT. Previously
she was employed as General Manger of Woodstock Hotel, Ennis
and the Hibernian Hotel, Dublin. She is a member of the Irish
Hotel & Catering Institute, the IHF and SKAL International
Pat
Hevey has been appointed General Manager of Chief O’Neills
Hotel, Smithfield Village, Dublin.
Ann
Marie Brennan, Senior Pastry Chef at the Connemara Coast Hotel,
Galway received a gold medal in Grand Piece Class and Overall
Class Winner at the Ireland West Professional Cookery competition
held at GMIT recently.
Dometic formerly Electrolux Lesiure Appliances
has a full range of electrolux miniBars and safes to compliment
any hotel environment. The range comprises free standing and
built in minibars, which can be fitted into the bedroom furniture
or matched to the bedroom decor. Whether it seen as a form of
extra revenue generation or just an additional service for the
guests, hotels should not be without an in room refreshment centre.
To compliment this, the company have a full range of safes including
one which accommodates laptops.
One
of Ireland’s leading consultancy organisations providing
user friendly HACCP systems that are easy to understand and simple
to implement. MRA are the sole providers of Ireland’s only
paper free, portable computerised HACCP monitoring system.
Russell
Will, suppliers of catering disposables, are based in Dublin
and are dedicated to providing a high level of service and quality
to all areas of the marketplace.
Avcom is Ireland’s biggest supplier of audio-visual
services to the Irish hotel industry.
Curragh-Tintawn Carpets Ltd., is Ireland’s
sole manufacturer of quality tufted carpets. Now recognised as
the leading supplier of carpets for bedrooms and corridors to
the hotel industry.