A Dublin airport firm co-owned by billionaire John Collison last year incurred an exceptional cost of €1.27 million arising from a fire near the airport’s control tower.
In 2021, Stripe co-founder Collison and a group of investors bought Weston Airport from the Galway builder Brian Connelly.
New accounts filed by airport operator, Weston Aviation Academy Ltd showed that the exceptional cost from the fire contributed to a €6.83 million loss for the year.
In a note, the directors stated that “a small fire occurred near the control tower on the night of Tuesday, September 24th 2025” .
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The note stated that “the fire was brought under control by the fire service and no injuries were reported”.
The accounts showed that last year, the owners ploughed a further €7.48 million into the business.
This followed the owners investing €18.9 million into the business in the prior year.
The capital injection in 2025 brings the company’s share premium account from €30 million to €37.49 million.
[ John Collison and other Weston Airport owners invest €18.9m in expansionOpens in new window ]
The site straddles the Dublin-Kildare border and lies to the west of Lucan and south of Leixlip.
The post-tax losses of €6.8 million losses in the 12 months to the end of June last followed a post-tax loss of €3.57 million in the prior 12 months.
A large part of the 2025 loss was €2.56 million in non-cash depreciation costs.
Collison’s father, Denis sits on the board. John Collison is known as an aviation enthusiast. In 2017 he piloted a four-seat, twin-engined aircraft from Europe to the United States and today, he still regularly flies his own plane.
Numbers employed by the company increased from 30 to 31 last year. Meanwhile, directors’ pay declined from €181,200 to €74,414.
The company continued to invest in the airport last year as the value of land and airfields, terminal building complex and other assets increased by €4.2 million.
The book value of the company’s tangible assets rose from €20.54 million to €22.11 million.
The spend on airport facilities followed the company securing planning permission for an upgrade in terminal facilities at the airport in 2023.
In July of last year, An Coimiúsin Pleanála granted planning permission to plans for a new helicopter search and rescue (SAR) hangar at Weston Airport.
The SAR base at Weston Airport is the home for Coastguard’s 116 helicopter and it commenced operations there in July 2025.
Shareholder funds rose marginally from €19.02 million to €19.68 million.
