Dubai backers in deal to fund €2bn McEvaddy terminal plan
Aviation entrepreneurs have been lobbying for ambitious project at Dublin Airport, writes Simon Rowe
BUSINESSMEN Ulick and Des McEvaddy have secured financial backing from a Dubai-based investment group to build a proposed €2bn terminal scheme at Dublin Airport.
Omega Air boss Ulick McEvaddy and his brother Des have been attempting for the past 20 years to develop a third independent terminal on 130 acres of land they own adjacent to Dublin Airport.
Now the McEvaddys have secured financial backing from Dubai-based Tricap Investments, a major investment fund with a diversified investment portfolio that spans real estate, energy and aerospace in the Middle East, the US, Asia and Africa, the Sunday Independent has learned.
Tricap Investments’ managing director is Salem bin Dasmal, a former ceo of the $55bn Dubailand project, a gigantic leisure and theme park development in the city.
Documents released under Freedom of Information reveal that the McEvaddys and Tricap Investments have met with government ministers and officials to outline their plans. The talks, which have included department consultations with the Attorney General, are believed to have focused on the possibility of securing access to taxiways and runways at Dublin Airport — a major sticking point for any planned independent terminal as the Dublin Airport Authority has said it is not in favour of a competing terminal access.
The proposed €2bn T3 project, which would initially cater for an estimated 10 million passengers a year, would create thousands of jobs during the construction phase and when it is fully operational.
A report sent to Fingal County Council planners on behalf of Omega Air last year said a local area plan for the Western Campus site near Dublin Airport would enable the “development of a range of aviation related and complimentary land uses, including aprons and taxiways, freight terminals and aircraft maintenance facilities”.
The report claimed development on the McEvaddys’ 50 hectare ‘Western Lands’ is “the only viable option in terms of available land”.
The possibility of a third terminal is currently under review and such a development would go out to tender.
The McEvaddys unveiled their T3 masterplan to Transport Minister Shane Ross at a meeting on July 26 last. Patrick O’Donovan, Minister of State at the Department of Transport, and Jobs Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor were also lobbied.