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DAA to invest €450 million in 2008 to improve Dublin Airport 

The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) is to invest €450 million this year to expand, improve and modernise Dublin Airport. 

The investment for 2008, which is equivalent to spending more than €1 million per day on better facilities for passengers, is part of the 10-year €2 billion Transforming Dublin Airport programme. 

"We are committed to radically improving the customer experience at Dublin Airport and this investment will help achieve that goal," said DAA Chief Executive Declan Collier. "The €450 million spend represents the largest ever infrastructural investment at an Irish airport in a single year," Mr Collier added. 

Passengers are already beginning to see the benefits of the Transforming Dublin Airport programme as four major new facilities were delivered during 2007. The €120 million Pier D boarding gate facility opened on time and on budget last October and has been well received by passengers. Pier D, which has 12 boarding gates, is a spacious, modern building filled with natural light that provides much improved levels of passenger comfort at the gate. 

Also in October, a new improved immigration area for passengers using piers A and D was delivered at a cost of €7 million. The new Area 14 lower ground floor check-in zone, which can handle four million passengers per year, opened last spring and the DAA also delivered a new centralised car hire facility at Eastlands, behind the ALSAA sports complex in the autumn of last year. 

"Dublin is the fastest growing major airport in Europe and the investments that we are making now will deliver the passenger facilities that are required for a major capital city airport," according to Mr Collier. He added that the improvements currently underway would allow Dublin Airport to handle up to 35 million passengers per year compared to the current 23 million. 

The largest project onsite this year is the €395 million new passenger terminal T2. Work started on the new terminal last October and much progress had already been made. "We will begin erecting the steel structure for the 75,000 sq metre new terminal in the spring and during this year you will see the structure of T2 begin to rise from behind the hoardings," Mr Collier said.

 Work has also started on preparing the site for a new boarding gate facility Pier E, which is part of the overall T2 project.  

Construction of T2 will be completed in the fourth quarter of 2009 and following a rigorous commissioning and testing phase, the new terminal will open to the public in April 2010. T2, which will handle up to 15 million passengers per year, has been designed around passengers' needs and will provide a pleasant and efficient travel experience. 

The T2 site spans the main approach road to the existing terminal at Dublin Airport and this year will see the major phase of the construction programme for the new passenger terminal. "We have carefully planned all of the construction activity to ensure the minimum disruption to passengers, but we ask customers to please bear with us as we continue to transform your airport," Mr Collier said.      

While T2 is the largest single project onsite this year, it is just one of 65 Transforming Dublin Airport construction projects that will be live during 2008. Subject to planning permission, work will begin shortly on a €55 million extension to the existing terminal. The extension, which will be built at the north-western corner of the terminal, will provide more circulation space for passengers, an enlarged and reconfigured check-in area at the northern end of the terminal, and additional retail space.  

The DAA is also investing heavily in the unseen infrastructure that supports the passenger facilities at the airport. More than €20 million will be spent on the provision of utilities during 2008. Work will start shortly on a new underground reservoir and there will also be improved links to the gas, electricity and sewage systems. This year will also be a busy one on the airfield where the DAA is currently investing more than €85 million to build new aircraft parking stands and taxiways, which will make the operation of the airport more efficient. 

There are currently more than 1,000 construction workers employed on the investment programme and that will rise to more than 1,500 later this year. At peak during 2009, the DAA expects about 3,000 people to be working on the Transforming Dublin Airport programme. 

Ends
Downloadable artists' impressions of T2 are available at
http://www.dublinairportauthority.com/Airport_Development/Terminal_2/image_gallery.html

 

For further information contact:
Paul O'Kane
Communications Manager
Airport Development Programme
Tel 353 1 8141897, 353 86 6090221

 

 Editor's note: 

Transforming Dublin Airport
Transforming Dublin Airport is a €2 billion investment programme to, expand, improve and modernise the passenger facilities at Dublin Airport. The investment programme, which is one of the largest building projects in the state, is funded through a combination of passenger charges, borrowings and commercial income generated by DAA. Dublin Airport, which receives no direct state funding, has the lowest passenger charges of any major European airport. 

Terminal Two
T2, the new passenger terminal at Dublin Airport, will cost €395 million. The cost of the overall T2 project, which also includes a new boarding gate facility Pier E, a new energy centre, and an upgrade of the airport's campus road network is €609 million. The 75,000 sq metre new terminal will be capable of handling up to 15 million passengers per year and will open to the public in April 2010.