Dublin airport will be unable to offer take-off and landing slots to a large number of intending flights this summer because congestion has reached such a critical level, the airport authority has warned.
In a submission to the aviation regulator, Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) has said that at this point almost 5 per cent of the scheduled flights planned for the summer season do not have an approved operating time or slot.
In addition, with aircraft traffic running significantly ahead of forecasts, the airport could be short 14 aircraft parking stands this summer. A shortage of these parking stands last year meant that at certain times aircraft had to be moved into hangars at night to make room for other aircraft.
The airport authority says predictions that higher oil prices might lower the demand for air travel among Irish passengers have not been borne out. "Traffic growth is now over a year ahead of where we expected to be in early 2006," states its submission.
It cites additional aircraft from Ryanair and Aer Lingus as a key factor behind the higher numbers. The airport expects to handle 23 million passengers in 2007, about 1.7 million more than in 2006. It says a new system of co-ordination at the airport, where airlines could face penalties if they do not adhere to agreed schedules, is needed to address major congestion this summer. Based on studies it commissioned, the authority believes there will be demand for 6,000 passengers to take flights at the airport every hour, but there is only capacity for 4,050 passengers, it claims. This is even when the new "Area 14" is included. This is a basement check-in area in the existing terminal, earmarked for use by Ryanair, although the low-cost airline has so far refused to move into it.
Terminal 2, the largest infrastructural project at the airport, is not scheduled to open until 2009. Work on this building and other infrastructure is likely to add to congestion this summer, the airport authority has also warned. Ryanair has lodged a planning objection to Terminal 2, saying it is too expensive and in the wrong place.
The authority's submission calls for the allocation of slots at the airport to be handed over to a co-ordinator with extensive powers so that congestion can be eased. Ryanair opposes this idea but Aer Lingus supports it.