PASSENGERS at the congested Dublin Airport will see the benefit of €450 million of improvements as early as next year, airport bosses said last night.
Airport authorities plan to start work within weeks on a €55m extension to terminal one, which handles 23 million passengers a year.
“We are expecting permission from An Bord Pleanála by the middle of this month and once we get it, work should start within two to four weeks,” said airport spokesman Paul O’Kane last night.
“The extension will provide more space for passengers, a bigger check-in area and extra space for shops.”
He said the first phase of the extension would be ready for passengers in early 2009, while a year later the airport’s new €395m terminal two will open.
“Once we get terminal two open, we can then go back and look at improving terminal one further as we will have more space for passengers,” he added.
This year the Dublin Airport Authority plans to spend €450m on building projects and expects to make substantial progress on the second terminal, which will handle 15 million passengers a year once it opens.
Work on terminal two is expected to finish late next year, with the new arrivals and departures facilities open in April 2010.
“Dublin is the fastest growing major airport in Europe and the investments that we are making now will deliver the passenger facilities that are required for a major capital city airport,” said airport chief executive Declan Collier.
More than 1,000 construction workers areemployed on building projects at Dublin Airport with the number expected to swell to 1,500 this year and then to reach a peak of 3,000 next year as the volume of work expands.
Figures from Cork Airport yesterday showed a record 3.2 million passengers passed through its arrivals and departure gates during 2007 — with figures up 6% on the year before.
Last year was the first full year of operation since the airport underwent a multi-million-euro transformation with a new terminal building.
By November last year passengers had reached the three million mark — the same figure as was carried in the whole of 2006.
Services operated by Aer Lingus saw a 30% hike in passenger numbers, while the amount of people flying from Cork to Dublin with Ryanair and Aer Arann rose by 20%.
Of the 3.2 million who flew in and out of Cork last year, 44% or 1.4 million were on flights to and from Britain, 500,000 were on internal flights and 205,000 were commuting to and from Poland. Passenger numbers rose 5% to 863,000 for Ryanair, while Aer Arann carried 8% more passengers at 332,000. Aer Lingus carried 1.2 million.
Since Roy Keane became manager of Sunderland Football Club in north-east England, the numbers on flights to and from the region rose 22% to 28,000 last year.
Irish Examiner
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