Girl is lucky 17 millionth airport passenger
Daniel McConnell
31 December 2004
Irish Times

A three-year-old girl was yesterday declared the 17 millionth passenger to pass through Dublin airport in 2004, earning her a €2,500 holiday voucher. Passenger figures through the airport have more than doubled in the last 10 years.

Ciara Moss from Essex in England arrived in on a Ryanair flight from Stansted, accompanied by her mother Helen and her father Keith.

A piper from the Black Raven Pipe Band was on hand to perform as Ciara made her way from the baggage hall to the arrivals hall where her grandad, Mr Gerry Doyle from Dún Laoghaire, greeted the family.

The family were also met by Mr Richard Hilliard, director at Dublin airport, who presented Ciara with a teddy bear and a holiday voucher worth €2,500. He presented Ciara's parents with a bottle of champagne and had a bouquet of flowers for Helen.

"This is a historic milestone for us at Dublin Airport," Mr Hilliard said. "To put this in context, it means that the equivalent of more than four times the entire population of Ireland have travelled through Dublin Airport this year alone."

Dublin Airport opened in 1940 and in its first year saw just over 55,000 passengers travel through its doors. That figure almost trebled in three years while more than 162,000 passengers travelled through the airport 50 years ago.

In 1984, Dublin Airport saw 2½ million passengers pass through and in 1994, the numbers went as high as seven million.

Commenting on the huge growth of capacity, a spokesman for Dublin airport said: "We have broken a number of records at the airport this year. Thirty-four new routes were introduced and we now have 46 airlines servicing 102 destinations across the world."

haha I have been there to study for 1 year. I have passed that airport for like 10 times. And what I think many people came to Ireland for vacation from Spain, Germany, Swiss, Italy, Britain...etc. And quite a lot Chinese came for finding jobs and study university. Some Koreans, Japanese and Taiwanese too for studying.

Ireland's GDP per capita is very high

Dublin rocks !!

17 MILLION, that's more than Dubai (but watch out, Dubai will surpasse :j/k: ). I guess Dublin is an interesting tourist centre- for me it would be the Guinness.

17 MILLION, that's more than Dubai (but watch out, Dubai will surpasse :j/k: ). I guess Dublin is an interesting tourist centre- for me it would be the Guinness.

Dubai already superpassed Dublin with 21 million.

Year-long wait for new flight departure plan
Frank Khanand Eugene Moloney
27 April 2005
Irish Independent

PLANS to iron out flight congestion during busy periods at Dublin Airport were unveiled yesterday - but passengers will have to wait until next Spring.

In a year's time, all airlines will have their departure times set by the Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR) co-ordinator.

Aer Lingus welcomed the initiative.

In the past two years airlines using the voluntary system have increasingly refused "to play ball" with the facilitator trying to allocate their aircraft slot times for take-offs.

According to the CAR, the level of refusals by airlines to accpet slot times given to them this summer is up 100pc on the same period last year.

And with Dublin getting busier by the day as new services start up and the distinct prospect of increased transatlantic flights, changes in slot operations were regarded as necessary.

Later this year airlines will be requested by the co-ordinator to submit their schedules for summer 2006. These will be considered at an international conference after which the slots will be fixed in spring of next year.

The hope is for a smoother running of the airport with aircraft leaving on time. Airlines failing to keep to the agreement could face sanctions ultimately in the courts.

Last week, Dublin Airport Authority Chairman, Gary McGann, told the joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport that one of the key measures for the future success of Dublin Airport was the change in policy which would see airlines no longer able to decide on flight slots themsleves.

Dublin Airport Director, Robert Hilliard, described the development as "very good news" for the airport.

He added: "It was a decision we have sought for many years. It's a positive step for passengers because a co-ordinated airport is better able to manage the peak arrival and departure times of aircraft, thereby easing some of the pressure on passenger facilities at those peak periods."

Last year Dublin Airport handled over 17m passengers.

New system of airport slots to ease Dublin congestion
Emmet Oliver
27 April 2005
Irish Times

A significant improvement in congestion at Dublin airport is expected to result from a new system of slot co-ordination approved yesterday by the aviation regulator Bill Prasifka.

Under the changes, Dublin airport will become what is known as a "co-ordinated airport" next year, meaning airlines will only be allowed take off after being given a mandatory slot by an official co-ordinator.

At present, Aer Lingus, Ryanair and other airlines operate according to a voluntary system of slot allocation. The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) has been trying to change this arrangement for some years so that aircraft movements can be spread out during peak periods. A spokesman for the DAA said the move was to be welcomed and should help to reduce delays.

Mr Prasifka last year asked the consultancy firm Alan Stratford and Associates to carry out a full review of the issue. But, in October, it was decided not to make the airport co-ordinated.

However the report said, if there was an increase in transatlantic traffic from Dublin, this would have to be reviewed. It also said if airlines constantly refused to adjust their schedules when requested it would also trigger a review.

In a statement yesterday, Mr Prasifka said the number of times airlines had refused to adjust scheduled take-off times had increased 100 per cent in 2005 compared to last year. He said, based on this pattern, the airport would become fully co-ordinated by next summer.

The director of Dublin airport, Robert Hilliard, said co-ordinated airports were better able to manage the peak arrival and departure times of aircraft, thereby "easing some of the pressure on passenger facilities at those peak periods".

It is not clear at this point whether airlines will be able to trade the slots they are given under the new arrangements. At other airports, like London Heathrow, a grey slots market exists.

Under accountancy rules, the value of these slots cannot be included in the balance sheets of airlines, because they do not technically own the slots. It is unlikely at present that slots at Dublin airport would be worth large sums, said aviation sources.

Airline, terminal plans to go to Cabinet
Liam Reid
4 May 2005
Irish Times

Proposals for the partial sale of Aer Lingus and a second terminal at Dublin airport are to go to Cabinet next week, although there is still no agreement between Fianna F�il and the Progressive Democrats on parts of the aviation package.

The set of proposals, which also includes changes to the Shannon stopover, had been expected to come before the Cabinet yesterday but was again delayed due to ongoing differences on the second terminal.

While there is broad outline agreement on the reform package, it is believed there is still some distance between the coalition partners on the second terminal issues.

Officials representing T�naiste Mary Harney are to hold talks over the coming week with counterparts from the Taoiseach's office and the office of Minister for Transport Martin Cullen to break the impasse.

The T�naiste is continuing to look for the second terminal to be independently run and operated.

The Taoiseach and Mr Cullen on the other hand have no great problem with the Dublin Airport Authority being allowed to run the new terminal.

According to Government sources there were "genuine attempts being made within Government to resolve this".

There is no divergence on proposals for the sale of 51 per cent of Aer Lingus to fund its ongoing development. However, it is yet to be decided whether this will be by flotation or otherwise.

Dublin rocks, way to go, Love Irish ppl, love what you doing there in Ireland, way to go, this month I'll visit Dublin to get bit of culture, lol, you know what I mean Guinness culture, lol... Great news about Airport, nice to know it is getting very popular place, more ppl arrive more money they spend in Ireland, better for for all concerned, to those who tried to hijack this thread with Dubai airport, shame on you this is Dublin thread, you already polluted almost every other thread with Dubai nonsense.

Just to tell you, women in Dubai have no rights, cant work and have to ware wail forgot proper name of the think they need to were. I think it would be nice if Abu-Dhabi is free, fair and democratic country but we all know the difference, if you start propping and advertising feudal regime that UAE is (as well as Saudi, Kuwait and other Arab nations with strange notions of democracy and fairness) than you do it somewhere else, not here, I was in UAE in 2002 and thought of it very little, and still thin of it less today, plz go somewhere else propagating this ghastly undemocratic regime and its magnanimous projects I care less of.

Sorry for my spat of Political doctrine, plz continue with Dublin, I love Dublin did I say that yet, it is lovely place and some of my best fiends where always Irish, they are so easy going always laugh and make fun jokes, they ce irony in everything and I like them for it, one of my Irish friends (Patrick) said , the biggest Industry in Ireland is Horseracing, followed by Bear drinking, lol....

^I love horseracing too, but I don't want to go "Bear drinking!"^

Package on aviation now unlikely to come to Cabinet this week
Liam Reid, Political Reporter
9 May 2005
Irish Times

Plans to bring a comprehensive package on aviation to the Cabinet tomorrow were looking increasingly unlikely last night, with Fianna F�il and the Progressive Democrats still at odds over proposals for a second terminal at Dublin airport.

Ministers had been confident last week that an agreement could be reached on who would be allowed to tender for and operate the second terminal, and that the full proposals would be ready for Cabinet tomorrow.

Despite discussions between officials throughout the weekend, Government sources indicated there was "no change" as of last night, and that both sides were still in disagreement on whether the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) could be allowed to operate the second terminal, which will be owned by the State.

While Government sources were not ruling out an eleventh-hour agreement in time for tomorrow's meeting, they said it was looking increasingly unlikely.

T�naiste Mary Harney is still insisting that the second terminal should not be operated by the DAA, but Minister for Transport Martin Cullen believes the State-owned company should be allowed to tender for the contract to run the new facility.

The possibility of a third terminal has also been mooted during negotiations as forming part of compromise package.

Yesterday Opposition politicians accused the Taoiseach and Government of "dithering".

Labour's transport spokeswoman R�is�n Shortall said people would react with "disbelief" that the Government was considering a third terminal when a decision on a second terminal had yet to be made.

"No case has been made for a third terminal, and it is clear that this option is only being considered in order to defuse the row in Government, and to allow both Fianna F�il and the PDs to claim a political victory."

Irish Regulator Plans To Increase Dublin Airport Charges
31 May 2005

DUBLIN (Dow Jones)--Ireland's Commission for Aviation Regulation Tuesday proposed increasing charges at Dublin Airport, putting further pressure on airfares.

The regulator proposed increasing charges to airlines to between EUR5.13 and EUR7.05 per passenger from EUR5.09, depending on the costs of planned infrastructure upgrades at Dublin Airport,

The final outcome will have ramifications for low-cost airline Ryanair Holdings PLC's (RYAAY) fares and those of its domestic rival, Aer Lingus (AER.YY), analysts say.

Rarely seen on the same side of the fence, the two carriers have repeatedly rallied against price charges by the Dublin Airport Authority, or DAA, formerly Aer Rianta.

Earlier this month, the Irish government said the DAA would build a second terminal by 2009 to help boost competition and cut costs.

It also said it needs to invest in a fast-turnaround runway by 2007, called Pier D, and acknowledged that the road infrastructure to Dublin Airport needs upgrading.

The regulator also said Tuesday it's identified "significant savings," which it could make over the period covered by the new charges, which includes staff cuts.

Dubai already superpassed Dublin with 21 million.
You just couldn't let it go, could you?

You just couldn't let it go, could you?

No I coudltn :D. The other forumer said that Dublin surpass Dubai wich isnt true.

Half-million people on move for busy holiday
Alison Healy
4 June 2005
Irish Times

More than 500,000 people are expected to travel in and out of the State in the coming days in one of the busiest weekends of the summer.

At least 310,000 passengers are expected to have moved through Dublin airport by Monday night, with 2,000 incoming and outgoing flights scheduled.

Aer Lingus expects to carry 105,000 passengers in and out of the State this weekend.

The Dublin Airport Authority has advised passengers to arrive at the airport at least 90 minutes before their departure time. Passengers can expect queues of at least 25 minutes at the security gates.

Additional security staff are on duty this weekend, and customer service staff are moving around the airport, helping passengers.

Passengers should be ready to remove their shoes, belts and coats as they pass through the security channels.

At least 47,000 passengers will travel through Cork airport this weekend. This will mark a 10 per cent increase on 2004 figures. More than 600 flights will have arrived at and departed from the airport by Monday night.

Shannon airport has seen a 43 per cent increase in passenger numbers during May, compared with 2004. The airport expects to facilitate 40,000 incoming and departing passengers this weekend.

Dublin Airport seeking €250m funding
Emmet Oliver
1 July 2005
Irish Times

Dublin Airport may seek to raise up to €250 million in fresh debt in the medium term.

In a notice to potential lenders, the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) said it would like to put together a panel of banks which might advance the company funds of between €125 million and €250 million. Any debt raised would have an average maturity of more than 7 years, said the authority.

The company's debt already stands at €400 million but with a capital expenditure plan of €1 billion, the authority will need to raise major additional funds. It also needs a significant rise in airport charges and this matter is being considered by the airport regulator, Bill Prasifka.

The company has a gearing ratio of 47 per cent and a Government-imposed borrowing limit of €700 million. The ratings agency, Standard & Poors, recently warned that if debts from Shannon and Cork airports were added to the balance sheet of Dublin, it could put a major strain on the company and also result in a lower credit rating, pushing up borrowing costs.

A DAA spokesman said yesterday that nothing specific was planned in terms of fund raising at present and the authority was still preparing its business plan.

The preparation of business plans by the three airports has proven to be a difficult process because several issues have not been clarified. It is unclear whether debts of Shannon and Cork will be transferred to the balance sheet of Dublin. It is also not clear who will end up owning Aer Rianta International (ARI).

This week Mr Tadhg Kearney, a member of the Shannon Airport Authority board, suggested that all three airports should own some part of ARI, but this view is not believed to be shared by many staff at Dublin Airport. ARI is potentially a valuable company, with shares in airports like Birmingham, Hamburg and Dusseldorf.

Another major issue is whether Dublin Airport has sufficient reserves to spin off Cork and Shannon airports, a requirement under company law.

Last night Ryanair, in a submission to the airport regulator, threatened legal action if the regulator sanctioned any serious rises in airport charges. Chief executive Michael O'Leary said any DAA capital expenditure should be disallowed if does not have the support of the majority of airlines at Dublin Airport.

He also said any proposals for a second runway at Dublin Airport should be rejected outright. "The regulator should reject any proposal for a second runway which is patently not needed at Dublin until annual traffic reaches 35 million passengers per year, which is the traffic presently being handled by Gatwick Airport on its single runway".

He said the DAA should also be stopped from building a new terminal unless it has an agreement from the airlines that the facility will be "efficient and low cost". He said the DAA should be forced to sell off the Great Southern Hotel chain and any international holdings it has.

Irish Govt: New Airport Terminal Site Decision By Sep
11 July 2005

DUBLIN (Dow Jones)--Ireland's Transport Minister Martin Cullen said Monday the site for a new second terminal at Dublin Airport will be made by end-August, early September.

Cullen said consultation with airlines will be complete by then, but said speculation that state carrier Aer Lingus (AER.YY) might run the terminal was "mischievous."

Earlier this year, Cullen said the state-run Dublin Airport Authority would build a second terminal in or near the airport by 2009 to help boost competition and cut costs.

Fearing job losses, trade unions representing workers at the Dublin Airport Authority said they don't want any new terminal to be run by a private consortium.

But Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYAAY) has long argued a privately run new terminal is necessary to break the state-run monopoly and allow competitors to fly more flights.

Cullen also said that he expected the business plans for the three airports at Dublin, Cork and Shannon to be delivered by year-end at the latest.

Last year, Ireland's government and labor unions agreed to break up the then state airports authority Aer Rianta into three boards for Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports.

Dublin airport catering staff vote to strike
Fiona Gartland
17 August 2005
Irish Times

Passengers at Dublin airport could face similar scenes to those at Heathrow last weekend if a row between an airport catering company and its staff is not resolved.

Some 200 staff working for Gate Gourmet Ireland Ltd in Dublin airport, a branch of the catering company involved in the Heathrow dispute, have voted to strike following a decision by management to change the terms and conditions of their employment. The workers have also been told the company cannot afford to pay for Sustaining Progress wage increases.

Management issued notice of changes in the terms and conditions of staff late last year. Siptu's Civil Aviation Branch, which represents most of the Gate Gourmet workers, negotiated with the company but an agreement could not be reached.

Staff voted to strike in June and the issue was referred to the Labour Relations Commission (LRC). The commission recommended an independent assessor be appointed but an agreement could not be reached on who the assessor should be and the issue has remained deadlocked.

The union wrote to the LRC late last week and is awaiting a response. It fears the company will try to force through the changes without further negotiation, triggering industrial action.

Gate Gourmet was accused of causing a strike at Heathrow airport at the weekend when an internal document, suggesting that management should provoke strikes so that it could replace existing staff with cheaper foreign labour, was leaked. The company denied the suggestion was implemented.

Pat Ward, Civil Aviation Branch official with Siptu, said the company is attempting to frustrate agreed processes and orchestrate strike action.

"It looks like a similar situation here as at Heathrow," he said. "The same tactics are being employed. We believe there is a deliberate attempt by the company to frustrate the matter."

He said an independent examiner had looked at the company's books and found that they could afford to pay Sustaining Progress.

"Following an overwhelming ballot in favour of industrial action, our members now have official sanction to take industrial action - up to and including strike - if management attempt to force through change without agreement. This will inevitably lead to some disruption to passenger services in airlines serviced by Gate Gourmet," Mr Ward added.

Gate Gourmet Ltd refused to comment. They referred The Irish Times to a statement issued in relation to the Heathrow airport dispute, which said the company has been in negotiation with the Transport and General Workers' Union and every effort was being made to reach a satisfactory conclusion.

The international catering company employs 22,000 people in 29 countries, supplying in-flight meals to airlines including British Airways, American Airlines, Air Canada, Air France, Lufthansa and CityJet.

Gate Gourmet was at the centre of a dispute with workers in the US in June when it tried to introduce cost-cutting through a reduction in the salaries of its 7,000 employees there.

Dublin Airport Sees Christmas Passengers Up 15% On Yr
20 December 2005

DUBLIN (Dow Jones)--The Dublin Airport Authority said Tuesday it will have the busiest Christmas season on record with 920,000 people passing through the airport over the holiday period, up 15% on last year.

Analysts say this bodes well for Ireland's trans-Atlantic and European state-owned airline Aer Lingus Group PLC (AER.YY) and European low-fares airline Ryanair Group PLC, both of which fly from Dublin Airport.

The busiest day before Christmas will be Dec. 23, with 75,000 people expected to travel, while Dec. 30 should see over 71,000 passengers at the airport, the DAA said.

Including immigrants from Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe who also have entered Ireland, over 130,000 new residents have registered here since May 2004, attracted by the country's open-door labor policy, according to the government.

Where once Irish emigrants returning home made up the majority of Christmas flights, Eastern Europeans immigrants now make up one of the largest proportion of travelers out of Dublin Airport at Christmas time, observers say.

Aer Lingus said it will carry 50,000 passengers to Eastern Europe over Christmas: its daily service between Dublin and Warsaw and its thrice-weekly service between Dublin and Krakow are sold out between now and Christmas.

As reported, the DAA will build a new airport terminal by late 2006, costing up to EUR200 million as part of a EUR1.2 billion, 10-year program to increase the airport's capacity to over 30 million passengers a year from 18 million.

any pic???

Congratulations, this is a great news, Ireland is really the "Celtic Tiger"

nice one :)

Turbulent times ahead for Dublin airport's expansion
17 April 2006
Irish Times

Are Fingal's plans for a third terminal at Dublin airport the start of the next planning disaster there, as some critics allege, or potential salvation for a long suffering public? Frank McDonald investigates

A new road network costing well over €200 million will be needed to cope with traffic generated by the planned expansion of Dublin airport to cater for up to 38 million passengers per annum - double the number being handled at present; otherwise, the M50 would become even more congested.

That is one of the reasons why Fingal County Council, which unveiled its own master plan for the airport on April 5th, wants to see work getting under way as soon as possible on the development of a third passenger terminal at the western side of the airport zone - to relieve approach roads from the east.

Fingal's director of planning, architect David O'Connor, said its aim was to "put some shape" on the future development of Dublin airport, where a second terminal is at an advanced stage of planning. He also emphasised that the council's plan had been drawn up in consultation with the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA).

Ryanair company secretary Jim Callaghan denounced it as "the start of the next disaster at Dublin airport" and complained that the council did not consult the airlines about its contents. He was told that both Ryanair and Aer Lingus could have made submissions in response to a call last December.

Curiously, neither of them did so.

The DAA, which has a fractious relationship with Ryanair, did not involve the airlines in its discussions with the county council. It also went ahead with a planning application for a second main runway, parallel to the existing one, without dealing adequately with the wider impacts of this development outside the airport zone.

"No economic case was made for the runway", Mr O'Connor told The Irish Times. "The DAA hadn't dealt with that, or with the traffic implications. They had a head-in-sand attitude about anything outside their fence, as if that was Fingal's problem. We had to tell them there was a bigger picture, which they needed to take on board".

Fingal had huge concerns about traffic and sought a raft of further information before finally deciding last Wednesday to grant permission for the €150 million scheme - subject to a whopping €21 million levy. It also got independent advice from aviation planning consultant David Stanley about proposed developments at the airport.

The council's draft master plan not only includes new relief roads but also a "multi-modal transportation centre" for buses and the proposed metro line linking the airport with St Stephen's Green. One of the roads is envisaged as a dual-carriageway around the "airport box" while another would link Blanchardstown with Baldoyle.

Michael Lorigan, Fingal's director of transportation, said it would be seeking Government funding for this new road network, which was designed to be "independent" of the M1 and M50. It would cost at least €200 million and probably much more, depending on the price of land, but would bring "very significant benefits".

A third terminal on the west side of the airport is one of the central elements of the draft - a proposal long canvassed by brothers Des and Ulick McEvaddy, who own land in the area. "There's no two ways about it - it should press ahead", Mr Stanley said. "Let's see if private investors will put their money where there mouth is".

David O'Connor agreed, saying Fingal would not allow further expansion on the east side of the airport beyond a capacity of 30 million passengers due to fears of congestion on the existing road network. He also said the volume of staff car parking at the airport - around 5,000 free spaces - "will have to be cut back".

Plans for Dublin airport have never been so closely scrutinised; in the past, whatever Aer Rianta wanted, it got. Now the DAA, its successor, is pursuing a massive capital expenditure programme with a ballpark estimate of €1.2 billion - including the new runway, the second terminal and a new Pier D, with 14 aircraft stands.

It also includes replacing both Pier A and Pier B as well as extending the existing main terminal to the north, which will become Ryanair's base, and a new Pier E, jutting out from the second terminal. The latter is likely to be even larger than Terminal 1, which has a floor area of 75,000 sq metres (807,300 sq ft), and will cater for Aer Lingus.

Last month, the contract to build Pier D on a site just north of the original terminal building was awarded to Laing O'Rourke in the expectation that it would be delivered before the end of next year. The plan goes back at least as far as 1997; it had been held up by uncertainty over the location of the second terminal.

The Government finally told the DAA last May to get on with it, even though Pier D will only provide a net 10 additional aircraft stands and will be relatively remote from the main terminal. Mark Foley, director of capital programmes at the airport, said it was "the only project that can be built now with no impact on other facilities".

Fingal County Council is "not at all happy" with Pier D, according to Mr O'Connor. He regards it as an example of the type of "ad hoc planning" which has turned the airport into the visual and functional mess we know today.

"That's why we have drawn up our master plan - to prevent that happening in the future," he said.

Any real relief from the overcrowded main terminal will have to await completion of the second terminal, optimistically scheduled for "late 2009".

Engineers Ove Arup have been appointed as project managers for the new terminal, with Pascall and Watson as the architects; both firms are working on Terminal 5 at London Heathrow. Mark Foley stressed that the design team had been selected from a short-list of seven with wide experience of airports.

He also said the terminal would "set a new standard" for buildings at Dublin airport, along the lines of Cork's new terminal, which was designed by Murray O'Laoire Architects and cost €160 million.

The new Dublin terminal is earmarked for a site adjoining the existing main terminal, where car-hire firms are located. Part of this site is occupied by the one-sided Pier C, which was completed just six years ago, and the listed- but marooned - mid-18th century Corballis House is also in the way; it will have to be demolished.

On March 23rd last, Minister for Transport Martin Cullen appointed a team of independent experts (chartered surveyors Boyd Creed Sweet, along with Parr Architects and environmental consultants Faber Maunsell) to "verify the costs" of the DAA's plan for the second terminal, estimated at €250 to €300 million.

As Mr Cullen explained, this verification process is part of a "triple safeguard" of consultation, verification and regulation outlined in the Government's May 2005 Aviation Action Plan. Its avowed aim is to secure "the best outcome for customers, plus maximum efficiency and cost effectiveness of Terminal 2", he said.

The consultants are to report in June on their assessment of the terminal project "as designed and costed by the DAA". There was never any question of asking them to examine such issues as whether this is the best location for a second terminal, still less carry out a full cost-benefit analysis of the plan.

Uproar (United Portmarnock Residents Opposed to Another Runway) has repeatedly highlighted the fact that there has been no such analysis of the second runway plan, or of any alternatives to the expansion of Dublin airport - for example, building a second airport on a greenfield site 35-50km southwest of the M50.

But Martin Cullen was having none of it. "I have no proposal to commission any study of alternative options for the provision of airport capacity to serve the greater Dublin area," he told the Dáil last June.

The DAA would "provide such capacity through the expansion of existingfacilities and infrastructure at Dublin Airport".

Distancing himself still further from any notion of carrying out a cost-benefit analysis of the runway plan, Mr Cullen said: "I am informed by the DAA that all capital projects are subjected to rigorous appraisal procedures and ultimately board approval, in compliance with the guidelines issued by the Department of Finance." Two months earlier, appearing before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport, DAA chairman Gary McGann merely said that the company's capital appraisal and management processes "reflect" the department's Guidelines for the Appraisal and Management of Capital Expenditure Proposals.

On October 20th last, Minister for Finance Brian Cowen made an important announcement on these guidelines in a speech to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce. Henceforth, he said, all public capital projects costing €30 million or more would be subject to an economic cost-benefit appraisal to ensure "value for money".

The bar had previously been set at €50 million. But Cowen believed it was "appropriate" to reduce this to €30 million, and said "full cost-benefit appraisal" would include "identification and carefully quantified analysis of all the relevant project costs and benefits, including indirect costs as well as . . . any risks of cost escalation".

As he noted, "the principle of cost-benefit analysis is that a project is only desirable if the benefits exceed the corresponding costs". But no such analysis has been carried out of any element of the DAA's €1.2 billion capital investment programme for Dublin airport, which is to be funded mainly by airport landing charges.

According to a report by Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly, the Department of Transport merely "believes" that the DAA has carried out a cost-benefit analysis of the runway plan.

Bizarrely, however, the Department "does not propose to seek the DAA's cost-benefit analysis . . . nor does it propose to carry out a separate analysis of this project".

The report, in response to a complaint by Uproar, said the DAA is empowered by the 1998 Air Navigation and Transport (Amendment) Act and the 2004 State Airports Act 2004 to "own, manage, operate and develop Dublin airport and to provide such facilities and services as it considers necessary for aircraft and passengers".

The Ombudsman concluded that there is no legal obligation on the DAA to seek ministerial approval for capital expenditure projects. In this, its position differs from those of other commercial semi-State bodies which do require such approval - the ESB, for example. In effect, the DAA is entitled to make it up as it goes along.

"In the case of capital projects at Dublin airport, the sponsoring agency is the management of the DAA and the sanctioning authority is the board of the company. It is a matter for the DAA to satisfy itself in relation to expenditure on capital projects and this is recognised in the Department of Finance guidelines", she said.

Ms O'Reilly noted that the Commission for Aviation Regulation carries out rigorous analysis of all airport costs, including capital expenditure.

However, its most recent report said: "Unavoidably, the commission has not had the time to analyse the revised DAA capex programme against the statutory objective of economic efficiency."

What Uproar has sought to have examined is the true economic cost of the second runway. One of its leading members, Matt Harley, who worked as an economist in the Department of Finance, has estimated the value of land consumed by the runway at €840 million - not counting the acreage that would be sterilised by it.

Uproar has drawn attention to a little-noticed proposal by Bord na Móna managing director John Hourican last July that a new airport could be developed on cutaway bog in the midlands, near Portarlington, Co Laois. But if this was an attempt to open a national discussion on the issue, it didn't get anywhere.

"Why would any company agree to the assessment of an alternative that would cost hundreds of millions of euro when it had in place an asset base capable of dealing with the task?", Gary McGann asked the Oireachtas committee on transport. "That would not make sense and would require the DAA to replicate everything."

Former Aer Rianta chief executive John Burke said the airport was fortunate in having a vast land bank - more than 2,000 acres - most of which was purchased many years ago at agricultural prices. Plans for a second parallel runway go back to the late-1960s and it was included in the 1972 county development plan.

Some 10,000 residents of Portmarnock - including Brian Byrne, a one-time general manager of Dublin airport who is now an Uproar activist - would be in its flight path, with all that means in terms of aircraft noise. But Fingal County Council says those living in St Margaret's, west of the airport, would be even more adversely affected.

Uproar's proposal that the airport's old main runway (known as 11/29) should be upgraded and extended was rejected by Fingal County Council's planners, acting on the advice of David Stanley. He warned that there would be a "risk of crossed approaches" by aircraft because of the angle between it and the present main runway.

He said two parallel runways "are standard internationally" and, in Dublin's case, a second runway is "essential" to cater for a projected 304,000 aircraft movements a year in 2025.

"New airports are notoriously expensive and are only needed if a city expands to swallow up land around its airport, which hasn't happened here".

But it's clear that the idea of developing a second airport for Dublin - in Baldonnel, for example - has not been seriously examined by the DAA.

As far as it is concerned, there is only one solution - the continued expansion of Dublin airport. And whatever the Department of Finance guidelines say, that is the Government's position too.

Fingal County Council's draft master plan for Dublin Airport may be inspected over the next four weeks at the County Hall and Rathbeale Library, both located in Swords, and at Blanchardstown Library. The deadline for making submissions on it is May 17th.

Dublin airport: by the numbers

Passenger numbers have increased from two million in 1982 to 18 million in 2005. The forecast for 2025 is 38 million passengers.

The number of aircraft movements (flights in and out) is expected to increase from 166,000 a year in 2003 to 304,000 a year in 2025.

Fingal County Council decided last Wednesday to grant planning permission for a second main runway costing €150 million - subject to a €21 million levy.

Construction starts this week on Pier D, north of the original terminal building, to provide 14 new aircraft stands by the end of 2007.

A second terminal costing at least €250 million is being planned for a site adjoining the existing main terminal and is due to open in 2009.

A total of 2,600 acres - mainly owned by the Dublin Airport Authority - is zoned for "airport and related uses" in Fingal's county plan.

12,500 people are employed in the airport zone. Many of them travel to work by car, using up 5,000 free staff parking spaces.