Dublin Airport revives 2007’s shelved plans for second runway

Two years after Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) announced the investment of €60m (US$68.4m) on the main runway – called 10/28 – and additional airport infrastructure, news has been released today (Thursday) that a second runway is to be built at an expected cost of €320m (US$365m). Work will begin in 2017, with completion expected by 2020. The new runway is to be built 1.6km to the north of the existing main runway.
Planning permission for a second runway was obtained back in 2007, but a dramatic downturn in the Irish economy saw an international bailout and plans for the runway shelved. However, over the last two years Ireland has witnessed the fastest growing economy in Europe with substantial increases in airport traffic. Last year Dublin airport was used by over 25 million passengers, partly thanks to a weak euro. In 2014 the airport handled 21.7 million passengers, of which 864,000 were passengers from Northern Ireland coming in and out of the airport, a figure which was up 52% on the previous year.
This is good news for IAG who owns Aer Lingus, along with British Airways, Iberia and Vueling. It confirmed that a key factor in the Group’s decision to acquire Aer Lingus in 2015 was the ability to create a hub at Dublin Airport, allowing passengers heading for the USA to clear immigration before departure. The airport is also the principal base for Europe’s largest airline by volume of passengers, Ryanair.
According to DAA Chief Executive Kevin Toland, “This will create 1,200 jobs during the construction period, with 7,000 at the end of it.
“We’re growing very quickly, with growth three times faster than the rest of the EU. With that growth comes the challenge of bringing on capacity for the future.”