Gateway to Ireland ready for business
NEW TERMINAL TO OPEN IN TWO MONTHS
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FINGAL'S newest landmark is set to open its doors within two months, offering what the Dublin Airport Authority ( DAA) is calling a modern ' gateway to Ireland'.
Final works on the second terminal, dubbed T2, are currently being completed with the € 609m facility scheduled to begin serving passengers by the end of November. Some 40% of the airport's business will transfer to the new building, with the remainder staying in Terminal 1, while Aer Lingus will move its entire operations over, along with a number of other transatlantic airlines.
' This is specifically built for what's coming and what will come in years, to future proof it for years to come,' the DAA's external communications manager, Siobhan Moore said.
' Building something of this size, it's for the longterm. Airlines when they're planning, they're planning for the short to medium-term, whereas we have to look beyond that.
' We've a fine facility now, that is a gateway to Ireland. I think people will be proud of this. T1 will still be very much part of the operation. Ryanair will still be there and a few other airlines will be there too. Construction has taken 29 months so far and an array of stakeholders including the airlines and handling agents, the Department of Agriculture, Customs and Excise, the American immigration department and the Gardaí have all been involved throughout the project's design and completion.
In the meantime, the DAA was keen to stress the need for the development, which is part of an overall € 1.2bn investment programme in the airport, as well as its longterm capabilities.
' People forget that less than two years ago, we were choc-a-bloc in T1,' Ms Moore added. ' We were so congested that it was a horrible experience for passengers, it was a horrible experience for staff.
' It was tough going and we were putting through 23.4 million passengers. In its history, T1 has seen over 300 million passengers go through it and even the terminal that was built in the 1940s, part of that is still used today, 70 years later.
' We've been unfortunate that there has been a downturn in the economy and passenger numbers are down, but they will come round again, because these things are cyclical. And when it does come around again, we'll be ready for it.
' I know we're in a downturn at the moment, but we're not building T2 for today, tomorrow, next week or next year. It's built for 20, 30, 40 years time.'
- Robin KIELY
