State call for new Dublin terminal ‘a distraction’

THE Government’s new report on the future of State-owned airports appears to “fly in the face” of a national aviation policy published just three years ago, according to the DAA, the semi-state company that operates Dublin and Cork airports.

The report – prepared for the Department of Transport – claims that Dublin Airport could need a new terminal as soon as 2030.

It also says it’s feasible that the terminal be privately operated.

Aer Lingus said talk of an independent terminal is a “distraction” that could divert attention from the requirement under national aviation policy to develop Dublin Airport as a hub, inhibit traffic growth, and prevent the realisation of “wider economic benefits”. Ryanair also said runway capacity, not terminal capacity, was the key issue at Dublin.

The 2030 timeline is also much earlier than the DAA believes it actually needs a new terminal, even with rapidly increasing passenger numbers.

Dublin Airport will handle more than 30 million passengers this year, but DAA boss Dalton Philips said earlier this year that it could manage as many as 55 million passengers a year with the existing terminals and appropriate expansion of other infrastructure. That would mean a third terminal wouldn’t be required until about 2040 at the earliest.

The DAA is about to embark on the construction of its new runway, while it’s also about to begin consultations in relation to a separate €900m investment programme that will include the development of additional infrastructure designed to ease congestion and improve capacity at the airport.

The DAA said it hadn’t even been shown a copy of the report, which projects anticipated infrastructure and other requirements at State-owned airports up to 2050.

Transport Minister Shane Ross told RTÉ that “planning for airports is very long-term”.

In 2010, Mr Ross said Dublin Airport’s T2, opened that year, was a “white elephant” and that the DAA was “bleating pathetically” that the terminal was a “90-year project”.

The terminal can handle about 15 million passengers a year and handled 11.5 million last year.

A DAA spokesman said its “consistent position” in the past two years has been that Dublin Airport does not need a new terminal “at the moment” and that a new runway, aircraft parking stands, boarding gates and other facilities are key projects for the gateway.

He added: “We need to get on and build what our airline customers want to help them grow their business – and none of them have told us that they need a new terminal.

“Our plans will help Dublin Airport grow to 40 million passengers per year and that can be done without a new terminal.”