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Mayor of Fingal, Taoiseach, distinguished guests, representatives of the media, good afternoon and welcome to the launch of what we in the DAA believe is a momentous and exciting new development for the Irish economy, for Dublin and the Fingal region and for Dublin Airport and its many stakeholders.
I want to thank you for taking the trouble to join us at the Airport today particularly as I’m aware you have travelled on the basis of minimal information of what we intend to announce.
As you may have deduced by now from your surroundings and from the documentation you’ve been given, we are today launching a major new economic development called Dublin Airport City, details of which will soon be revealed.
I especially want to thank An Taoiseach for amending his very busy schedule to join us today. Just six months ago, An Taoiseach launched the first significant stage of the transformation of the passenger experience at Dublin Airport by officially opening the new Pier D boarding gate facility.
His presence today signifies a different type of development at the Airport but one which, we believe, will deliver significant long-term benefits not only for users of the Airport but the economy as a whole.
My thanks also to David O’ Connor, Fingal County Manager for joining us today and for offering his support for a development that we believe will help to keep the Fingal region to the very forefront of economic development in this country.
In a few moments I will invite An Taoiseach to share with you his view of the benefits the DAA’s plans for Dublin Airport City will offer to the Irish economy and to the Irish people. My colleague, Declan Collier, Chief Executive of the DAA will then present you with the details of those plans.
I should mention at this stage that An Taoiseach has to catch a flight in just over half an hour’s time and will leave us after Declan’s presentation. However, Declan and I will be available after his departure for any questions you might have.
Firstly though, I would like to outline briefly, the rationale underlying the emergence of airport cities generally and the reasons the DAA intends taking this major initiative to plan and develop Dublin Airport City.
Throughout the centuries, high value-added economic and business activity has always clustered around major transport networks, be it sea ports and river trading posts since the dawn of history, canals in the 18th century, railways in the 19th century and motorway systems in the 20th century.
We are now in an age of global economic activity, serviced in the physical world by air travel and in the virtual world by advances in information technology. As a consequence, concentrations of economic activity have begun to develop close to certain large airports, principally due to the ease of access to air travel they offer to multinational corporations and their busy executives, but also due to the network of surface transport options and IT support systems that service such airports.
These developments, which have been given the generic name of “airport
cities”, do not emerge at every large airport or even the majority of
them. Their emergence, which to date has principally been on an ad hoc
rather than a planned basis, has been dependent on a significant number of
variables other than access to a significant international route network and
efficient surface transport access.
These variables include the availability
of land for development; the level of congestion in the airspace over the
airport; proximity to the major urban centre served by the airport; the time
zone in which the airport is positioned; a supportive planning and regulatory
environment; a visionary and supportive central and local Government; and the
broader economic and fiscal landscape of the airport’s jurisdiction.
As we move towards the second decade of the 21st century, major international airports face a diverse range of challenges, particularly those located close to densely-populated conurbations.
These challenges include a scarcity of terminal, airfield and airspace capacity as passenger numbers continue to grow strongly; environmental and planning constraints and the increasingly onerous demands of passenger security and safety.
All these challenges, which are sometimes forgotten, if not misunderstood, require substantial funding to address them, in an industry environment where airlines in particular demand lower rather than appropriate airport charges. In this environment, the potential of airports to generate additional revenue streams from an airport city-type development, becomes all the more significant.
Dublin Airport is currently the eighth busiest airport in Europe for international passengers and the 14th busiest in the world. It faces many of these operational and investment challenges.
Dublin Airport’s funding challenge is more pronounced than most due to the extent of the €2 billion investment catch-up that is being made to cater for current and prospective traffic growth, and the low level of airport charges it is allowed to levy by the Regulator, relative to other major international airports.
The DAA as a fully commercial organisation and faced with the challenges just outlined, must optimise the revenue-generating potential of all its assets including that element of the land bank at Dublin Airport, not required for operational purposes.
In doing so, “Airport City” will provide valuable funding support, beyond the current €2 billion investment plan, for Dublin Airport and its many stakeholders. In doing so also, the DAA will ensure Dublin Airport continues to fulfil its role as the key gateway to the island of Ireland through the 21st century and be an even more successful engine of strong economic growth for the country, its capital city and this region.
This announcement represents the culmination of close to two year’s detailed master planning involving a small team within the DAA, supported by specialised consultancy advice.
It envisages the development of a large-scale, environmentally progressive economic zone on land owned by the DAA at Dublin Airport.
Its development will be funded independently of the investment programme at Dublin Airport, but critically, will deliver substantial additional funds to the DAA for the benefit of Dublin Airport and its many millions of customers.
The initiative we are announcing today still requires significant additional resourcing and further planning and funding work. From today, we intend to commence an active process of engagement and consultation with all potential stakeholders to complete the business planning process.
But the DAA believes Dublin Airport City has the vision, the location, the wherewithal and the support, not least from government, to become the most significant catalyst for economic activity in Ireland for a generation and to deliver benefits for Dublin Airport for many generations to come…
Thank you and I now call on An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, to address you…
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