*AirNav Ireland.
The State commercial agency charged with keeping the skies safe over Ireland and much of the North Atlantic and employs hundreds of staff in Shannon is to spend an estimated €200,000 on operational chairs for its Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs).
In a tender published on Tuesday, Air Nav Ireland has put an estimated spend of €200,000 on the ergonomic Air Traffic Controller (ATC) chairs for use within the operational control rooms across its sites. The tender states that the chairs will be used by Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs) in safety-critical environments that operate on a 24 hour a day, seven days a week basis.
ATCs operate at Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports and at the North Atlantic Enroute Centre in Shannon.
The duration of the contract is for four years that includes possible extensions and the tender states that the number of chairs to be provided is estimated to be fifty in year one and another fifty in year two. The tender states that the successful supplier is required to provide controller chairs that are specifically designed for intensive 24/7 operational use and that deliver a high standard of ergonomic support, durability, safety and use comfort.
The tender adds that the chairs must be suitable for prolonged periods of seated operations while supporting the health, wellbeing and operational performance of Air Traffic Controllers.
AirNav Ireland has deep pockets for such an outlay. Last year, it recorded pre-tax profits of €14.64m on the back of record levels of traffic as revenues topped €210m.
The workforce at AirNav Ireland is also amongst the best paid across the semi-state commercial sector and last year the numbers of staff at AirNav Ireland earning over €100,000 increased to 434 or 64 percent of the entire workforce.
AirNav Ireland provides air traffic control services for aircraft travelling through Irish airspace and those landing and taking off from Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports.
AirNav Ireland’s Air Traffic Controllers at the North Atlantic Enroute Centre in Shannon safely handle over 90 percent of all aircraft that operate between North America and Europe.
AirNav Ireland North Atlantic Communications Centre is also based in Co Clare at Ballygirreen in Newmarket-on-Fergus where it provides a long-range High Frequency Radio (HF) communications service for Oceanic Air Traffic Control in the eastern half of the north Atlantic.
Last year AirNav Ireland managed 708,000 flights in Irish managed controlled airspace last year which was a 4.3pc increase on 2024. AirNav Ireland also handled 294,000+ commercial terminal flights at Dublin, Shannon and Cork airports which was a 7.7pc increase on 2024.
The deadline for the submission of tenders is October 9th.
