Former Aer Arann Islands owner, Pádraig Ó Céidigh, has warned that expansion plans at Dublin Airport are “not fair on residents” of the surrounding area and that having additional passengers on-site would make getting through the airport “very difficult”.
The DAA has applied for planning permission from Fingal County Council to raise the cap of 32 million passengers a year to 40 million. The cap has been in place since 2008.
Last month Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the cap on passengers at the airport should be increased – or else the airport will face losing new airline routes.
Mr Varadkar described the current cap as “rigid”, stressing that it creates difficulties in attracting new routes in and out of the capital.
Nil Yalter: Solo Exhibition – A fascinating glimpse of a historically influential artist
A Californian woman in Dublin: ‘Ireland’s not perfect, but I do think as a whole it is moving in the right direction’
Will Andy Farrell’s Lions sabbatical hurt Ireland’s Six Nations chances?
How does VAT in Ireland compare with countries across Europe? A guide to a contentious tax
However, Mr Ó Céidigh, who is also a former independent senator, said having an additional eight million passengers a year would make travelling through Dublin Airport “very difficult”.
Speaking on the Hard Shoulder on Newstalk, Mr Ó Céidigh said that it would involve putting an extra eight million passengers in to this “squeeze box”.
“All you’re going to have is more and more pressure on the existing resources,” he said.
Mr Ó Céidigh also said that regional airports should be allowed to expand instead of putting the emphasis solely on Dublin Airport.
“I don’t think it’s good socioeconomic policy for Dublin or for the country, quite frankly,” Mr Ó Céidigh said.
“I believe very strongly that Cork Airport, Shannon Airport and Knock airport should be developed further and there should be diversion of some of the flights and routes to those airports – rather than focusing so much on Dublin.
“It’s not fair to the residents of Dublin [or] to the workers of Dublin.”
However, he said that was in favour of plans to build third terminal not owned by the DAA.
“We should have a third terminal and we should have an independent terminal,” Mr Ó Céidigh said.
“There should be competition that Ryanair, Aer Lingus and any other airline that are using Dublin Airport, that they don’t have to be stuck in a kind of monopolistic situation [where] they’ve no choice but to go through a DAA terminal.”
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Find The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Our In The News podcast is now published daily – Find the latest episode here