The Dublin airport firm co-owned by self confessed “aviation fanatic” and billionaire co-founder of payments giant Stripe, John Collison last year incurred an exceptional cost of €1.27m arising from a small fire near the airport’s Control Tower.
In 2021, John Collision and a group of investors acquired Weston Airport from the Galway builder Brian Connelly.
Now, new accounts filed by airport operator Weston Aviation Academy Ltd show that the €1.27m exceptional cost arising from the fire contributed to a €6.83m loss for the year.
In a note the directors state that “a small fire occurred near the Control Tower on the night of Tuesday, September 24, 2025.
The note states that “the fire was brought under control by the fire service and no injuries were reported”.
The accounts show that last year, the owners ploughed a further €7.48m into the business.
This follows the owners investing €18.9m into the business in the prior year.
The €7.49m capital injection in 2025 brings the company’s share premium account from €30m to €37.49m.
The airport site straddles the Dublin-Kildare border and lies to the west of Lucan and south of Leixlip.
The post tax losses of €6.8m losses in the 12 months to the end of June last followed a post tax loss of €3.575m in the prior 12 months.
A large part of the 2025 loss was €2.56m in non-cash depreciation costs.
John Collison’s father, Denis, sits on the board. In 2017, John Collison piloted a four-seat, twin-engine aircraft from Europe to the US and today, he still regularly flies his own plane.
Numbers employed by the company increased from 30 to 31 last year. Directors’ pay declined from €181,200 to €74,414.
Cash funds increased from €233,288 to €624,643.
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 €4.2m.
The book value of the company’s tangible assets rose from €20.54m to €22.11m.
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.
The capital injection last year resulted in shareholder funds rising marginally from €19.02m to €19.68m.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
