The new Terminal 2 at Dublin airport is open to the general public from today following its official opening by the Taoiseach last week.
The new building is opening for operations on a phased basis, as agreed by the Dublin Airport Authority and its airline customers.
Today saw Etihad Airways starting its scheduled services at the €600 million terminal after moving its Dublin operation to Terminal 2 (T2).
Etihad’s first flight arrived from Abu Dhabi into T2 at 13.45pm this afternoon and will leave Dublin for Abu Dhabi at 19.55pm this evening. The carrier will run 10 services a week between Dublin and Abu Dhabi.
Beatrice Cosgrove, Etihad Airways area general manager for Northern Europe, said: "Today is a milestone in Etihad Airways’ Irish operation - being the first airline to operate scheduled flights into and out of the one of the most remarkable terminals in the world."
Aer Lingus has flown a number of selected flights through T2, and the carrier plans to operate a range of services through the new terminal over the coming weeks, as it prepares for the full transfer of its scheduled flights from January.
According to a DAA, spokesman, there were no problems today. He said the staggered rollout of operations was to ensure the terminal operations transfer went as smoothly as possible.
In 2008, Heathrow airport's Terminal 5, a hub for British Airways, was plagued by operational resulting in more than 500 cancelled flights, huge delays for travellers, and the mislaying of luggage.
When fully operational, T2 will house Aer Lingus, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Etihad Airways and US Airways.
The new building will also house a new US preclearance facility that will run customs, immigration, and security checks for US-bound passengers. The preclearance facility will open in the New Year, and US carriers will transfer into Terminal 2 to coincide with this time frame.
Brian Cowen opened the facility last Friday as an inaugural Aer Lingus flight landed at the terminal.
The new terminal is expected to create 500 jobs, including positions in security, cleaning, customer service and passenger processing.
The airport authority said about 400 new jobs would be created in the retail and catering elements of T2, “but given the nature of airport operations the total employed will be well over 1,000 as the jobs will be a mixture of full and part-time positions”.
Ryanair will not be moving to the new terminal, however. The airline's boss has criticised what he says is "a €1.2 billion palace".
