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The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) will transform the experience of all passengers using Dublin Airport within the next three years by delivering, cost-effectively, a major new passenger terminal and a range of other new and upgraded facilities, despite the regrettable decision by Ryanair to try to delay these benefits on grounds that have no basis or merit.
The DAA submitted a detailed planning application for the new terminal (T2) and related infrastructure to Fingal County Council in late August. The schedule for delivery of the new terminal allows time for possible planning appeals. Subject to the outcome of the planning process, construction of the new terminal will begin in early summer 2007.
“The users of Dublin Airport urgently require this new investment and these new facilities, particularly as traffic volumes continue to rise strongly. As a consequence, any unmerited objections or unnecessary delays to this critical project are likely to impact most severely on all the Airport’s passengers in terms of prolonged peak-time congestion and operational delays,” said DAA Chief Executive, Declan Collier.
“As far as the DAA is concerned, the debate about how T2 should be delivered has now been completed with the recent verification by independent, Government-appointed consultants that the budgeting process and the costs of the new terminal are in line with best international practice.
“The government, key industry stakeholders, and the vast majority of our customers support our development plans and now want us to get on with the job. That’s what we intend to do and we call on everybody who wants swift, and cost effective delivery of the facilities needed to transform Dublin Airport into a major international gateway for 21st century Ireland, to support us in this endeavour,” he added.
The DAA was instructed by the Government in May 2005 to build the second passenger terminal at Dublin Airport and bring it into operation before the end of 2009. As per the same Government decision, the operator of the new terminal will be selected by a public tender process.
Following an immediate and time-constrained initial consultation process with the airlines and other airport users, the DAA put in place a team of airport architects, designers and cost consultants of the highest international calibre to work with its own specialist staff in driving delivery of T2 and all related landside and airfield infrastructure.
In the wake of these appointments, a further and very intensive consultation process with all the airlines and other stakeholders in Dublin Airport about their future business requirements, took place through the first six months of the current year. The output of that process has directly influenced the design, specification and costs of the planned new terminal and other facilities.
As a consequence of the newly-emerging, aggressive expansion plans of
some of the key airlines based at Dublin Airport, the DAA decided to accelerate
its plans and build a 75,000 sq metre terminal rather than the initially-planned
50,000sq metre facility. This significant expansion in the scale of the
development and the attendant increase in the complexity of some of its features
represent the key reasons for the amended €400m cost of T2, at current
prices.
The planned new terminal and linked 24,000sq metre boarding gate facility
known as Pier E, will handle up to 15 million passengers per annum. It will
cater for a mix of aviation traffic including specifically, the requirements of
existing and prospective long-haul carriers to and from Dublin Airport.
This new infrastructure will help transform Dublin Airport and enable it to
handle up to 35 million passengers per year, safely, securely and comfortably.
It will deliver significant benefits to all the Airport’s passengers by freeing
up space in the existing terminal and by delivering a range of operational
efficiencies across the full airport campus.
The DAA also plans to spend in
excess of €300m over the next four years on new, upgraded and refurbished
facilities passengers using the existing terminal (T1).
The maximum airport charge at Dublin Airport, at just over €6 per passenger, is the lowest of any major airport in Europe. Nonetheless, according to an analysis carried out for the Aviation Regulator in 2005, Dublin Airport is also the second most efficient airport in a peer group of 25 European airports, in terms of ratio of costs to passenger numbers.
The DAA is seeking an average charge per passenger of approximately €7.50 over the current four-year regulatory period to finance its development plans at Dublin Airport over that period. These charges are not paid by the airlines but by passengers as a proportion of their airline ticket price. Passengers surveyed by the DAA have indicated they would be prepared to pay this modest increase in charges in order to fund the significant development programme required at Dublin Airport.
It is customary at all large regulated international airports that each passenger contributes equally to the financing of all the infrastructure that an airport requires. Otherwise, it may prove difficult or impossible to reach consensus on which passengers should pay for which particular shared facilities, leading to delays in investment required for the benefit of all airport stakeholders.
September 26th, 2006
For Further Information:
Vincent Wall,
Director Communication, DAA: (01) 8144107 or (087) 6860727
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