Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 18 January 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport

National Aviation Policy: Dublin Airport Authority

Mr. Vincent Harrison:

On airport charges, a typical customer who flies between Dublin and Heathrow, which is the second busiest air route in the world, pays Dublin Airport €8 this year for the privilege of using Dublin Airport and pays Heathrow £30 for the same service. Heathrow is a larger airport with greater economies of scale. Both elements are aggregated into the fare of the customer. That shows, at one extreme, the degree of price competitiveness we have in the offer, but clearly one has to factor in the destination airport.

On the hub, let me explain the types of facilities. Terminal 2 and all of the associated operation is where Aer Lingus and our other long-haul carriers operate and where the bulk of our transferring passengers change aircraft. We plan to build another pier perpendicular to pier 2, which is for parking aircraft, to greatly expand the apron area. The objective is to expand facilities like US pre-clearance and assorted other works. When we are talking about it as a project, we are talking about a range of projects, with the development of the area costing around €600 million. There is a quite considerable amount of relocation of existing facilities in the area, and therefore there may be associated projects, such as those concerning new cargo facilities after relocation.

There is quite a substantial investment. Not all of it happens within the four-year period that we are describing and that is in the determinations. Not all of it is within the €1.9 billion. It is all planned for completion during this decade.

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