Construction of the new terminal at Dublin airport could begin within weeks, following An Bord Pleanála's approval of a spacious design that can handle 19 extra planes and thousands of passengers at any one time.
If all goes to plan, a team of 2,000 workers will finish T2 terminal by the end of 2009, according to a statement released yesterday by Dublin Airport Authority chief executive Declan Collier. The first passengers will begin using the facility in April 2010, the statement added.
The new terminal and a second main runway, which was also approved, will boost the airport's capacity and open up more direct international routes for Irish travellers, the authority said.
"The new terminal and pier will facilitate the provision of significant additional long-haul routes linking Dublin with north America, the Middle East and Asia," the authority said.
"The development will incorporate a new US Customs, Border and Protection (CBP) facility, allowing transatlantic passengers to clear full US customs and immigration at Dublin airport. This new Dublin facility, one of only two such facilities in Europe, will make Dublin a more attractive location for US-bound traffic," the statement said.
It won't take long, however, to stretch the new airport to capacity. The new runway, the airport's fourth (two minor runways are rarely used) will take five years to build and will increase the airport's capacity to about 50 million passengers per year - up from 21 million passengers in 2006.
"However, growing the airport to that size would require a third terminal," said the Dublin Airport Authority statement. The new terminal will be located close to the roundabout on the existing approach road to Terminal 1, and will be able to handle up to 19 aircraft at any one time.
The €609 million project also includes an upgrade of airport roads and a new energy centre.
The new runway will cost an estimated €150 million at current prices, the authority said. It will be built 1.7km to the north of the existing main runway at Dublin airport. The authority says that work will start shortly on preparing the T2 site for construction, building site access roads and other preparatory work.
Approval for T2 and the runway has been a long process.
The planning application for the new runway was lodged in December 2004 and Fingal County Council granted permission in October 2005. This was followed by a 20-month planning appeal process, which included a hearing in October 2006, the authority said.
Mr Collier said T2 would give travellers a spacious, modern and cost-effective new terminal.
He added that the opening of T2 would also eliminate congestion for passengers using the existing terminal and allow the DAA to modernise and refurbish it. Mr Collier alluded to opposition from Ryanair in the authority's statement.
"Only one commercial organisation continued to oppose the plans for T2," said Mr Collier, in a reference to Ryanair. He suggested its position was "motivated by narrow self-interest rather than the interests of Dublin airport, passengers, and the wider Irish economy."