Bus Giants Duke It Out On The Airport Route
One day, possibly in the next decade but probably not, Dublin Airport will be connected with the city centre by a metro line. In the meantime Aircoach has another ten years of bussing passengers to and from the airport without rail to worry about, though competition on the route has been increasing.
In 2024 Aircoach is celebrating 25 years in business, and expects to transport its 40 millionth passenger this year. Aircoach’s quarter-century promo gimmick is to serve up ticket discount codes on company social media platforms on the 25th of each month.
Entrepreneur John O’Sullivan sold the business to First Group four years after he founded it, and left the company in 2005. First Group plc is one of the largest transport companies in the UK, with annual turnover of £4.8bn.
First Bus operates a fleet of 4,500 buses, while First Rail has 3,500 locomotives and rail carriages. Its Irish company Aircoach has 61 coaches connecting the airport with Dublin City and suburbs, Belfast, Derry, Galway and Cork.
Aircoach turnover of €26.2m in the year to March 2023 was well down on pre-Covid outcome of €29.3m in FY20, and the pandemic year FY21 decimated annual revenue to €3.7m.
The bus company did the decent thing through the lockdowns, retaining all staff on the payroll.
Aircoach’s operating profit margin in FY23 was 7%, indicating that the company’s ticket pricing is fair value. Five years ago there were suggestions that the UK parent might offload its bus division to concentrate on the larger rail business, but increased public funding for bus services in the UK prompted a rethink.
The main private competition to Aircoach is Dublin Express, which recently launched a new route connecting south Dublin areas in D6 and D6W with the airport. The 783 service, with 40 daily trips running every half hour at peak times, operates from Terenure to Dublin Airport via Rathgar, Rathmines and the city centre.
Dublin Express, owned by Mobico plc, formerly National Express group, currently operates routes connecting Dublin Airport with the city centre, and from the airport to Belfast. Most of Mobico’s business is in Spain and North America, and its UK bus business loses money.
Emerging from the pandemic period, the Dublin Express operating company had turnover of €7.5m in 2022 and broke even. Rory Fitzgerald, general manager of the Irish business, expects that the Terenure route will be a success, as the company estimates that 520,000 people make about 180,000 trips annually to the airport in the immediate areas around the 783 route.