Dublin ‘will need extra runway’ as traffic rises

Monday 14September:

Traffic levels at Dublin Airport are now back at boomtime levels and the airport will need a second runway to cope with growth, according to the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA).

The number of commercial take-offs and landings at Dublin Airport rose 11pc in August, with an average of 585 every day last month, according to the IAA.

“These latest figures show that Dublin continues to record very strong growth and has now returned to pre-downturn levels,” according to IAA chief executive Eamonn Brennan.

“The IAA believes that the development of a parallel runway at Dublin is crucial to ensuring its continued growth and development as a secondary international hub,” he added.

IAG’s takeover of Aer Lingus will see the British Airways owner use Dublin as a hub for driving more transatlantic traffic for the group, particularly out the of the UK. That will see Aer Lingus add a route to LA next year, as well as an additional service to the east coast of the US. A number of airlines have commenced operations at Dublin for the first time this year, including Air France-KLM’s low-cost carrier Transavia; Iceland’s Wow Air; and Ethiopian Airlines. Next year, Dublin will get its first-ever seasonal direct charter flights to Mexico and Jamaica.

The State-owned IAA generates income from handling air traffic control for flights traversing Irish airspace. The total number of flights in Irish airspace rose 7.4pc in August, with an average of 1,776 flights a day passing through the airspace without landing here, or taking off and landing at Irish airports. The number of traffic movements at Shannon in August fell 21.1pc, with an average of 56 commercial movements a day. But there was a 7pc increase in the number of passengers using Shannon during the month due to a higher percentage of seats being filled on aircraft servicing it.

At Cork, the number of traffic movements rose 1.3pc to an average of 64 a day in August.

Irish Independent