Transforming Dublin Airport

The DAA is funding the Transforming Dublin Airport Programme through a combination of airport charges, income generated by its commercial activities, and borrowings.

The DAA is owned by the Irish Government on behalf of the taxpayer but receives no direct funding support from the Government... Airport charges are paid by the passengers who use Dublin Airport as a small proportion of the price of their airline tickets. The revenues generated at Dublin Airport by activities such as car parking, catering and shopping are used to offset airport charges and keep them as competitive as possible.

There is a range of different airport charges: some relate to services in the airport buildings and some to aircraft on the airfield. When combined they represent the overall charge paid by each passenger to use Dublin Airport. This charge is regulated by the Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR), which sets a maximum overall average charge per passenger at Dublin Airport for periods of up to five years at a time.

In late 2009, CAR set its maximum airport charges at Dublin Airport for the period 2010-2014. The most likely scenario envisaged by CAR is that the average maximum charge per passenger will increase to €9.97 for the next five years. While this represents a 33% increase on the previous maximum charge, it still leaves charges at Dublin Airport 25% lower than the average €12.50 charge levied in 2008 by comparable European airports such as Stansted, Gatwick, Brussels, Copenhagen, Lisbon, Munich, Oslo and Vienna.