Dublin Airport

Dublin Airport Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath
IATA: DUB – ICAO: EIDW
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		Government of Ireland
Operator		Dublin Airport Authority
Serves		Dublin, Ireland
Location		Collinstown, Fingal
Hub for		Aer Lingus Air Contractors
Elevation AMSL		242 ft / 74 m
Coordinates		53°25′17″N 006°16′12″W / 53.42139°N 6.27000°W / 53.42139; -6.27000Coordinates: 53°25′17″N 006°16′12″W / 53.42139°N 6.27000°W / 53.42139; -6.27000
Website		dublinairport.com
Map
DUB Location within Ireland
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
10/28	2,637	8,652	Concrete
16/34	2,072	6,798	Asphalt
Statistics (2013)
Passengers			20,200,000
Passenger change 12-13			5.6%
Aircraft movements			164,181
Movements change 12-13			4.8%
Source: Irish AIS[1] Statistics[2]

Dublin Airport, (Irish: Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath) (IATA: DUB, ICAO: EIDW), is an international airport serving Dublin, Ireland and is operated by the Dublin Airport Authority.^[3] It is located 5.4 nmi (10.0 km; 6.2 mi) north^[1] of Dublin city near Swords, in the county of Fingal, Ireland. In 2010 19.7 million passengers passed through the airport,^[2] making it the busiest of the state's airports by total passenger traffic. It also has the greatest traffic levels on the island of Ireland followed by Belfast International Airport.

The airport has an extensive short and medium haul network, served by an array of carriers as well as some intercontinental routes focused in the Middle East and the US. It serves as the headquarters of Ireland's flag carrier Aer Lingus, Ireland's regional airline Aer Arann and also Europe's largest low-cost carrier Ryanair together with a fourth airline, CityJet, which doesn't maintain major operations here.

United States border preclearance services are available at the airport for US-bound passengers, making Dublin one of only two European airports with this facility along with Shannon.

History

The beginnings in the 1930s and early 1940s

In 1936 the Government of Ireland established a new civil airline, Aer Lingus, which began operating from the military aerodrome, Casement Aerodrome, at Baldonnel to the southwest of Dublin. A decision was made that a civil airport should replace Baldonnel as the city's airport. The townlands of Collinstown, Rock and Corballis in the Barony of Coolock were selected as the location for the new civil aerodrome. Collinstown's first association with aviation was as a British military air base during World War I, but that field had been unused since 1922. Construction of the new airport began in 1937. By the end of 1939 a grass airfield surface, internal roads, car parks and electrical power and lighting were set up. The inaugural flight from Dublin took place on 19 January 1940 to Liverpool. In 1940 work began on a new airport terminal building. The terminal building was designed by architect Desmond FitzGerald, brother of politician Garret FitzGerald.^[4] It opened in early 1941, with its design heavily influenced by the bridges of the luxury ocean liners of the time. The terminal was awarded the Triennial Gold Medal of the Royal Hibernian Institute of Architects and is today a listed building.

Upon the outbreak of World War II, services were severely restricted at Dublin Airport until late 1945 and the only international scheduled route operated during this time was by Aer Lingus to Liverpool (and for a period to Manchester's Barton Aerodrome). Three new concrete runways were completed by 1947.

Expanding in the 1950s

Throughout the 1950s Dublin Airport expanded with virtually uninterrupted traffic growth. Runway extensions and terminal enhancements were carried out to deal with the influx of traffic and passengers. New airlines began serving the airport also. These included British European Airways, Sabena and BKS. In 1958 a new transatlantic service was started by Aer Lingus via Shannon Airport. During the 1960s the number of scheduled carriers continued to grow and aircraft continued to evolve with technological advancement. By the close of the 1960s, a sizeable number of Boeing 737s, BAC One-Elevens, Boeing 707s, and Hawker Siddeley Tridents were using the airport on a regular basis. During 1969, it handled 1,737,151 passengers.

The advent of wide-body aircraft posed opportunities and challenges for aviation. In 1971, Aer Lingus took delivery of two new Boeing 747 aircraft; the first one arrived in March and, shortly afterwards, performed a flyover above O'Connell Street in Dublin on Saint Patrick's Day; a third Boeing 747 was delivered later that decade. To cope with this, a new passenger terminal capable of handling five million passengers per year was opened in 1972. The growth which was anticipated at the airport (and provided for through heavy investment by the airport and Aer Lingus) during the 1970s did not materialise immediately.

Continuing in the 1980s

In 1983 Aer Lingus opened its 'Aer Lingus Commuter' division which took delivery of Shorts, Saab AB, and Fokker turboprop aircraft to open regular daily domestic services to and from Ireland's smaller regional airports for the first time, as well as to serve existing routes to smaller regional airports in the United Kingdom. At various stages of its operations, flights were operated to several Irish regional airports to feed passengers into Aer Lingus's international network. These domestic destinations included Cork Airport, Shannon Airport, Kerry Airport, Galway Airport, Ireland West Airport Knock, Waterford Airport, Sligo Airport, and City of Derry Airport in Northern Ireland. Aer Lingus Commuter has since been re-absorbed into the main company. The domestic routes, with the exception of Dublin-Shannon, were taken over by Aer Arann, including the route to Derry in Northern Ireland; most of these routes have since been discontinued. Aer Lingus has continued with the remaining Dublin–UK flights.

During the 1980s, major competition, especially on the Dublin–London routes, resulted in passenger numbers swelling to 5.1 million in 1989. In the same year a new 8,650 ft (2,640 m) runway and a state-of-the-art air traffic control centre were opened. Dublin Airport continued to expand rapidly in the 1990s. Pier A, which had been the first extension to the old terminal building, was significantly extended. A new Pier C, complete with air bridges, was built and as soon as this was completed, work commenced to extend it to double its capacity. The ground floor of the original terminal building was returned to passenger service after many years to provide additional departure gates. Pier D, completed in October 2007, is a dedicated low-fares boarding area and provides 14 quick turn-around stands and departure gates; these are not served by air bridges.

The Bilateral Air Transport Agreement

In 1993, a major milestone for the airport was the signing of a new United States – Ireland bilateral agreement which allowed airlines to operate some direct transatlantic services for the first time to/from Dublin Airport instead of touching down en route at Shannon Airport on the west coast of Ireland. (Shannon had once been a major transatlantic refuelling stop for pre-jet aircraft, and this agreement was designed to protect the interests of the Shannon region when modern jets no longer required a refuelling stop and Shannon saw a fall-off in traffic.) Airlines still had to provide an equal number of flights either to or through Shannon as to Dublin. A gradual further watering down of Shannon's so-called 'stopover' status came into effect in November 2006 when more direct flights to Dublin were allowed. The stopover requirement disappeared completely in 2008. At that time, airlines were allowed to fly direct to the US from Dublin without having to match these with any to/from Shannon. It was expected that this would result in a huge increase in services between Dublin and the US, and Aer Lingus has identified 16 destinations that it would like to serve directly from Dublin.

Recent history

With the success of Ireland's 'Celtic Tiger' economy, Dublin Airport saw growth in the 1990s and 2000s. This demand was driven by an increased demand for business travel to and from the country, together with an increase in inward tourism, and a surge in demand for foreign holidays and city breaks from the Irish, who became one of the wealthiest populations in the world. In January 2006, the number of trips abroad taken by the Irish outnumbered the number of inbound trips for the first time since records began. Christmas shopping weekends in New York City increased in popularity (although London is still the top destination from Dublin). A further source of demand has been for flights to holiday homes and investment properties which have been snapped up by the property-hungry Irish across southern European holiday hotspots, the emerging economies of Eastern Europe, and beyond.

Finally, the demand from Ireland's migrant workers, principally those from Eastern Europe, has resulted in a large number of new routes opening to destinations in the European Union accession states. Ireland was one of only three European Union countries (as well as the United Kingdom and Sweden) to open its borders freely to workers from the ten accession states that joined the European Union in 2004. This resulted in hundreds of thousands of people moving to Ireland from these countries since then.

The airport saw significant declines in traffic in 2009 and 2010, although in 2011 and 2012 the airport saw an uptick in traffic.

Long-haul traffic

The DAA (Dublin Airport Authority) has ambitious long-haul expansion plans and has successfully added new routes to North America and the Middle East in recent years. It has yet to secure a direct route to East Asia. Like most airports, the effects of the 11 September 2001 attacks affected transatlantic traffic but this has since recovered to record levels.

In 2005 Gulf Air launched a direct route to Bahrain in the Middle East. This was followed by Aer Lingus's service to Dubai in March 2006, and Etihad Airways service to Abu Dhabi in July 2007. Despite reportedly high loads, the Gulf Air service to Bahrain was cancelled in July 2007 as part of a broad restructuring plan of the airline. This move prompted Etihad Airways to bring forward the start date of its Abu Dhabi service by a number of months, and Etihad's Dublin route has proved to be a success, with even greater frequency planned. The DAA had announced as far back as the late 1990s that it would like to add a route to East Asia; however, this has yet to materialise and Aer Lingus's poorly performing route to Dubai was dropped at the end of March 2008.^[5] However, the introduction of services to Asia remains part of Aer Lingus' long term plans. Both Etihad Airways and Emirates provide direct service to the Gulf area with routes to Abu Dhabi and Dubai respectively.

In February 2010, United Arab Emirates airline Etihad Airways announced an increase in services to Dublin from Abu Dhabi which means that from 28 March 2010 twice-daily flights are available on Thursdays, Saturdays & Sundays with a once-daily service on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays.^[6]

In September 2010, US Airways announced that it will commence daily direct services from Dublin to Charlotte in North Carolina from May 2011. It will be a summer seasonal route running until September.^[7]

In September 2011, Emirates announced that from 9 January 2012 it would begin a new daily direct service to Dubai, which will be year-round and will operate from the new Terminal 2.^[8]

On 8 June 2012, United Airlines commenced a new daily service to Washington DC (Dulles), also to operate from Terminal 2.

On 24 October 2012, American Airlines announced a new year-round service to New York-JFK beginning 13 June 2013. It is the carrier's second service from the airport, with the other being its seasonal route between Dublin and Chicago O'Hare.^[9] The service operates daily during the summer season, but capacity is reduced to four weekly flights in the winter.

Aer Lingus has announced two new year round service between Dublin and San Francisco and Dublin and Toronto; these two new services will begin in April 2014. The San Francisco route will be operated by an A330-200 Aircraft and the Toronto route will be operated by a Boeing 757-200.

In January 2014 Emirates announced that they would increase their Dubai service to twice daily from the 1st September 2014 using their Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Also in January 2014 Etihad Airways announced they would increase their service to Abu Dhabi from 10 weekly to double daily from the 15th July 2014.

Open Skies and the Shannon Stopover

In the mid twentieth century, the Irish government introduced a rule stating that all air traffic between Ireland and the United States must transit through Shannon airport. In return, the United States government placed a limit of four airports in the US that Aer Lingus could operate to. On 22 March 2007, the Open skies agreement between the US and EU was ratified. This resulted in the immediate cancellation of the long-running 'Shannon Stopover' requirement, whereby the Irish government had insisted that 50% of all transatlantic flights between Ireland and the United States must pass through Shannon Airport.

US border preclearance

Dublin Airport is one of only two airports in Ireland with United States border preclearance services for US-bound passengers (the other being Shannon Airport). It allows passengers to have their paperwork dealt with before departure saving time upon arrival in the United States. Flights from Dublin and Shannon are treated as internal domestic flights in the US

Aer Rianta and Dublin Airport Authority

In October 2004, Aer Rianta (which means 'Air Ways' or 'Air Tracks' in Irish) was renamed as the Dublin Airport Authority plc, following the State Airports Act 2004. All assets and liabilities previously owned by Aer Rianta were transferred to Dublin Airport Authority. The State Airports Act 2004 also established new airport authorities at Shannon and Cork Airports. The Shannon Airport Authority plc and the Cork Airport Authority have separate boards of directors and have been authorised under the Act to prepare business plans, which may in time lead to their full separation from the Dublin Airport Authority.

As the largest gateway to Ireland, over 21.1 million passengers travelled through the airport in 2006, a 2.7 million (or 15%) increase over 2005. The main contributors to the growth in traffic in 2005 were the airport's routes to continental Europe (particularly Poland and the Baltic region), North America, and the Middle East. Domestic and UK traffic had showed a small decline in 2005, but grew by 25% and 4% respectively in 2006. The decline in 2005 was due to a reduction in connecting traffic between Ireland's regional airports and the UK. This was as a result of a growing direct network of routes between those airports and the UK and continental Europe, dispensing with the need to transit at Dublin. But the organic demand at Dublin resulted in a net increase in those markets in 2006. Dublin Airport also welcomes over one million passengers per annum from across the border in Northern Ireland, whose largest airport is less than a quarter the size of Dublin in terms of passenger numbers.

Passenger terminals

Terminal 1

The current Terminal 1 building originally opened in 1972, and was initially designed to handle five million passengers per year. The original design included a second pier which would have been identical to the current decagon-shaped boarding pier B, but this was never built. A car park was originally located on the upper floor of the building, and the access ramps are still in place but it was closed for security reasons in the 1970s and converted into offices. Terminal 1 has been regularly extended and improved over the last two decades. In October 2007, a new pier designed by Larry Oltmanns, while design director of the London office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill,^[10] who also designed graphics for its interior, was opened to the north of terminal 1.^[11] This pier caters for the majority of Ryanair flights. In 2009, a new extension featuring new food and retail outlets was added to the side of Terminal 1. Terminal 1 is currently home to all short haul flights, except those of Aer Lingus. Air Canada and Air Transat are the sole long haul operators based out of Terminal 1 each offering seasonal services until May 2014 when Air Canada's new low cost carrier Rouge will begin daily year round Toronto-Dublin. As of 2012, Terminal 1 offers free wi-fi access.^[12]

Terminal 2

Terminal 2 is a 75,000 m² (810,000 sq ft) terminal and pier (pier E) which provides 19 air bridges for aircraft and is capable of handling 15 million passengers annually, thereby allowing the airport to handle 35 million passengers a year. The project was designed by Pascall+Watson architects and the total cost is put at €600 million. Another pier (Pier F) is planned to be built to the south of Terminal 2 when required. The majority of long-haul carriers have moved to Terminal 2,^[13] including Aer Lingus, which has relocated all its mainline operations. Terminal 2 also features the US pre-clearance immigration facility which was previously housed in Terminal 1. Construction of Terminal 2 began on 1 October 2007, and was officially opened on 19 November 2010 by the then Taoiseach Brian Cowen T.D. When the project was commissioned, it seemed like a reasonable investment.^[14] But after the opening, the project has been subject to significant criticism, as it has opened at a time when air traffic at Dublin airport has been subject to significant declines.^[15] Currently the following airlines operate from Terminal 2: Aer Lingus, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Emirates, Etihad Airways, United, and US Airways.^[16]

Safety and security

The DAA has its own branch of the Airport Police Service which is mandated to provide aviation and general policing at the airport. The Airport Police Station is centrally located on the Arrivals road between Terminals 1 and 2. The airport also has its own Airport Fire and Rescue Service which provides cover to the entire campus, its roadways and lands. The fire service responds to all aircraft incidents, domestic fires, medical emergencies and road traffic collisions.

The Office of the Revenue Commissioners provide a customs service to both passenger and cargo terminals, while the Department of Agriculture also has a presence in the airport. Garda Síochána (GNIB) provides an Immigration service for all international passengers arriving at the airport. The Gardai also have a small sub-station located beside the old terminal.

Maintenance facilities

Aer Lingus, Ryanair, CityJet, Eirtech and Dublin Aerospace have aircraft maintenance hangars and facilities at Dublin Airport. In 2010 Etihad Airways announced a new maintenance hangar which will handle the Airbus A330-200 which the airline uses on their route from Dublin. In time the airline will allow other airlines to use this facility.^[17]

Airport developments

Capacity

Due to the growth experienced at Dublin Airport in recent years, the facility became congested. One part or another of the airport has been a building site for the past two decades. Despite the building works and extensions, it is widely accepted by the DAA that Terminal 1 and its infrastructure were insufficient to deal with the volume of passengers. Both the Irish Government and the DAA have come under pressure from airlines and passengers alike to once-and-for-all provide a realistic increase in capacity for the future. As a result, the DAA plan to invest €2 billion in a 10-year capital development programme to effectively double the size of the passenger facilities of Dublin Airport.^[18]

Criticism

The plans for Terminal 2 have been met with ongoing criticism from those who argued that, once built, it could not be extended to provide any additional capacity, owing to its location. A third terminal, which is in the blueprint for the future of the airport, would most likely be located between the parallel runways.^[19]

The greatest objections continue to come from Ryanair.^[20][21][22] The no-frills carrier has long lobbied for Terminal 2 to be built as a low-cost facility, and run by a competing operator. They have even offered to build and operate such a facility. However, the Irish government decided that the DAA would build T2 and that its operation would be put out to tender. In March 2010 it was decided that T2 would be operated by the DAA as the other applicants did not meet the requirements for operating the terminal.

New air traffic control complex

Planning is currently under way for a new air traffic control complex and control tower which will replace the existing structure. The new facility has been designed by Scott Tallon Walker architects. A planning application was submitted in August 2009.^[23] The new control tower will be 86.9 m (285 ft) in height. The new control tower is necessary because the construction of the future parallel runway will obstruct visibility of certain parts of the airport from the existing control tower.^[24]

New runway

A new runway measuring 3,110 m (10,203 ft) is planned to be built parallel to the existing runway 10/28, which opened on 21 June 1989.^[25] Detailed proposals and planning permission were submitted to Fingal County Council (under whose jurisdiction Dublin Airport lies) and approved in April 2006. An appeal to An Bord Pleanála (The Irish Planning Appeals Board), which determines appeals and other cases under the national planning acts, was heard in September 2006, and this resulted in the granting of permission in August 2007, with 31 planning conditions attached.

The new runway will replace runway 11/29 (which is no longer in use as a runway, and is used for aircraft parking) and will be built 1,690 m (5,545 ft) to the north of and parallel to the existing runway 10/28. The new runway will allow the airport to accommodate 30 million passengers per annum once in operation, and will be 3,110 m (10,203 ft) long.^[26] In March 2009 the DAA announced in a proposal for consultation that the new runway may be built to a length of 3,660 m (12,008 ft) following consultation with potential long-haul carriers. A runway of this length would allow direct flights from Dublin to the Far East.^[27] The runway was expected to cost in the region of €300 million.

In the meantime, the Authority has invested heavily in extending aprons and creating rapid exit taxiways to derive maximum efficiency from the existing main runway. Runway 11/29, the shortest and one of the oldest runways, is closed to allow overspill aircraft parking. This runway will disappear under the new parallel runway in due course.

However, in December 2008, the Dublin Airport Authority announced that it would postpone the construction of the new parallel runway by three to four years, on account of the need to cut costs and predictions of falling consumer demand for air travel. This is a result of the recent global financial crisis. ^[28]

In July 2013, the plans to develop a new runway at the airport have been shelved until after 2019. According to the Dublin Airport Authority, they are now looking at ways to continue passenger growth at the airport without the new runway. The main reason for the decision to postpone the development of the runway was the airports inability to recoup costs in light of reduced passenger numbers. If passenger numbers were to return to the levels seen in 2007, the new runway would again become viable.

"A considerable amount of time has elapsed since the preparatory studies were completed for this project, passenger traffic fell by 20 per cent and new business opportunities are emerging that need to be provided for."

Airlines and destinations

As of 2013 the Dublin - London route is the worlds busiest international air route, with 640 weekly flights between the two cities. Dublin is also one of only seven airports in the world to serve all six London Airports: Stansted, Luton, Gatwick, Heathrow, London City and Southend. There are over 90 daily departures to other UK Airports. There is also a reasonably sized long-haul network. Aer Lingus serves many popular US destinations, and has been able to add more thanks to the open skies deal. US legacy carriers also serve the airport from major US hubs. Etihad Airways operates a 10 times weekly service between the airport and Abu Dhabi and on 9 January 2012 Emirates began a daily direct service to Dubai.^[8]

Passenger

Airlines	Destinations	Terminal
Aer Lingus	Alicante, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin-Schönefeld, Birmingham, Bordeaux, Boston, Brussels, Budapest, Chicago-O'Hare, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Faro, Frankfurt, Fuerteventura, Geneva, Gran Canaria, Hamburg, Hannover (begins 30 March 2014),[29] Lanzarote, Lisbon, London-Gatwick, London-Heathrow, Lyon, Madrid, Málaga, Manchester, Milan-Linate, Milan-Malpensa, Munich, New York-JFK, Nice, Orlando, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Prague, Rome-Fiumicino, San Francisco (resumes 2 April 2014),[29] Stockholm-Arlanda, Stuttgart, Tenerife-South, Toulouse, Venice-Marco Polo, Vienna, Warsaw-Chopin, Zürich Summer seasonal: Athens, Bilbao, Bologna, Burgas, Catania, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Ibiza, İzmir, Marseille, Naples, Palma de Mallorca, Perpignan, Pula (begins 19 April 2014),[29] Santiago de Compostela, Verona Winter seasonal: Agadir Winter seasonal charter: Salzburg	2
Aer Lingus operated by Air Contractors	Toronto-Pearson (begins 14 April 2014)[29]	2
Aer Lingus Regional operated by Aer Arann	Aberdeen, Birmingham, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow-International, Isle of Man, Kerry, London-Southend, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne Summer seasonal: Jersey (begins 30 March 2014), Rennes	2
Air Canada Rouge	Toronto-Pearson (begins 1 May 2014)[30]	1
Air Contractors	Charter: Salzburg Summer seasonal charter: Dalaman, Dubrovnik, Heraklion, Lanzarote, Palma de Mallorca, Reus (begins 23 May 2014),[31] Zakynthos Winter seasonal charter: Turin	1
Air Europa	Summer seasonal charter: Tenerife-South	1
Air France operated by CityJet	Paris-Charles de Gaulle	1
Air Moldova	Chișinău	1
Air Transat	Summer seasonal: Montréal-Trudeau, Toronto-Pearson	1
Albastar	Summer seasonal charter: Palma de Mallorca, Reus	1
Alitalia	Summer seasonal charter: Milan-Linate, Rome-Fiumicino	1
American Airlines	New York-JFK Summer seasonal: Chicago-O'Hare	2
Arkia Israel Airlines	Summer seasonal: Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion	1
Avion Express	Summer seasonal charter: Faro, Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Tenerife-South	1
Blue Air	Bacău, Bucharest	1
British Airways	London-Heathrow	1
CityJet	London-City Summer seasonal: Brest	1
Croatia Airlines	Summer seasonal charter: Dubrovnik	1
Delta Air Lines	New York-JFK Summer seasonal: Atlanta	2
Emirates	Dubai-International	2
Etihad Airways	Abu Dhabi	2
Flybe	Exeter, Southampton Winter seasonal charter: Salzburg, Verona	1
Flybe operated by Loganair	Donegal	1
Germania	Summer seasonal charter: Faro, Málaga, Menorca	1
Germanwings	Summer seasonal: Cologne/Bonn	1
Germanwings operated by Eurowings	Summer seasonal: Düsseldorf (begins 30 March 2014)	1
Iberia Express	Madrid	1
Icelandair	Summer seasonal charter: Reykjavík-Keflavík	1
Lufthansa	Frankfurt Summer seasonal: Munich	1
Luxair	Luxembourg (resumes 30 March 2014)[32]	1
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Copenhagen, Oslo-Gardermoen Summer seasonal: Helsinki	1
Onur Air	Summer seasonal charter: Antalya, Bodrum, İzmir	1
Ryanair	Alicante, Barcelona, Basel/Mulhouse (resumes 1 April 2014),[33] Beauvais, Bergamo, Berlin-Schönefeld, Birmingham, Bratislava, Bremen, Bristol, Bucharest (begins 2 April 2014),[33] Budapest, Bydgoszcz, Carcassonne, Charleroi, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Eindhoven, Faro, Fuerteventura, Gdańsk, Glasgow-Prestwick, Gran Canaria, Hahn, Katowice, Kaunas, Kraków, Lanzarote, Leeds/Bradford, Lisbon (begins 1 April 2014),[33] Liverpool, Łódź, London-Gatwick, London-Luton, London-Stansted, Lublin, Madrid, Málaga, Malta, Manchester, Memmingen, Moss/Rygge, Murcia, Nantes, Newcastle upon Tyne, Poznań, Prague (resumes 1 April 2014),[33] Riga, Rome-Ciampino, Rzeszów, Szczecin, Tenerife-South, Vilnius, Warsaw-Modlin, Wrocław Summer seasonal: Almería (resumes 1 April 2014),[33] Alghero, Bari (begins 4 April 2014),[33] Biarritz, Bologna, Chania (begins 1 April 2014),[33] Comiso (begins 3 April 2014),[33] Girona, Ibiza, La Rochelle, Marrakesh (begins 2 April 2014),[33] Marseille, Nice, Palermo, Palma de Mallorca, Pisa, Porto, Reus, Rodez, Santander, Seville, Tallinn, Tours, Treviso, Valencia, Zadar Winter seasonal: Grenoble, Salzburg, Turin	1
SATA International	Funchal	1
Scandinavian Airlines	Copenhagen, Oslo-Gardermoen, Stockholm-Arlanda	1
Scandinavian Airlines operated by Blue1	Copenhagen	1
SmartWings operated by Travel Service Airlines	Summer seasonal: Prague	1
Swiss International Air Lines	Zürich	1
S7 Airlines	Summer seasonal: Moscow-Domodedovo	1
TAROM	Bucharest	1
Thomson Airways	Charter: Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Sharm el-Sheikh, Tenerife-South Summer seasonal charter: Burgas, Corfu, Faro, Ibiza (begins 28 May 2014),[34] Larnaca, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Rhodes (begins 28 May 2014),[34] Zakynthos (resumes 27 May 2014)[34] Winter seasonal charter: Chambéry, Innsbruck, Toulouse	1
Travel Service Airlines	Charter: Lanzarote Summer seasonal charter: Agadir, Faro, Heraklion, Palma de Mallorca	1
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul-Atatürk	1
United Airlines	Newark, Washington-Dulles	2
US Airways	Philadelphia Summer seasonal: Charlotte	2
WestJet	Summer seasonal: St. John's (NL), Toronto-Pearson (both begin 16 June 2014)[35]	1

Cargo

Airlines	Destinations
Air France Cargo	Chicago-O'Hare, Paris-Charles de Gaulle
DHL Aviation operated by EAT Leipzig	East Midlands, London-Luton
FedEx Express	Paris-Charles de Gaulle
FedEx Feeder operated by Air Contractors	Birmingham, Cork, East Midlands, Glasgow-International, London-Stansted, Manchester,Shannon
TNT Airways	Birmingham, Liège, Shannon
UPS Airlines operated by Star Air (Maersk Air)	Cologne/Bonn, Shannon

Destinations Map

Destinations map

Dublin Faro Lisbon Porto Madrid Santiago Santander Bilbao Seville Malaga Murcia Alicante Valencia Ibiza Palma Mahon Girona Barcelona Reus Oslo Oslo-Rygge Kristiansand Stockholm Skavsta Helsinki Tallinn Riga Vilnius Kaunas Moscow Chișinău Bucharest Bacău Copenhagen Bourgas Plovdiv Dubrovnik Kerry Donegal Istanbul Izmir Antalya Dalaman Bodrum Larnaca Athens Corfu Zakynthos Heraklion Malta Budapest Catania Palermo Naples Rome-FCO Rome-CIA Pisa Alghero Bologna Turin Venice Verona Milan-MXP,LIN,BGY Geneva Zurich Paris-CDG Beauvais Rennes Nantes Tours La Rochelle Bordeaux Rodez Biarritz Pau Toulouse Carcassonne Perpignan Marseille Nice Lyon Brussels Charleroi Maastricht Eindhoven Amsterdam Vienna Bratislava Prague Gdańsk Szczecin Bydgoszcz Poznań Wrocław Rzeszów Katowice Kraków Warsaw Lodz Lublin Berlin Hannover begins 30 March 2014 Hamburg Munich Memmingen Stuttgart Frankfurt Hahn Cologne/Bonn Düsseldorf Salzburg Enfidha Tel Aviv Aberdeen Edinburgh Glasgow Prestwick Newcastle Leeds/Brandford Blackpool Isle of Man Manchester Liverpool East-Midlands Birmingham Cardiff Bristol Exeter SOU City Stansted Southend Luton LHR Gatwick BOH Jersey Destinations in Europe, Tunisia & Israel Fuerteventura Gran Canaria Lanzarote Tenerife-South Destinations in Canary Islands Agadir Marrakech begins 2 April 2014 Destinations in Morocco Sharm el-Sheikh Destinations in Egypt Dubai Abu Dhabi Destinations in United Arab Emirates Boston New York-JFK Newark Chicago-O'Hare Atlanta Charlotte Philadelphia Toronto-Pearson Montréal-Trudeau Orlando San Francisco resumes 2 April 2014 St. John's begins 16 June 2014 Washington-Dulles Destinations in North America

Statistics

Passenger numbers

Passenger numbers at Dublin Airport increased every year during the 10 years between 1998 and 2008, by an average of 10.2% per annum from around 11.6 million to over 23.4 million. Passenger numbers fell however during the subsequent two years to around 18.4 million in 2010, with a small increase to 18.7 million in 2011 and 19.1 million in 2012, then 2013 saw a significant increase of 6% to 20.2 million.^[2]

Year	Passengers	Passengers Change YoY %
1998	11,641,100	–
1999	12,802,031	10.0
2000	13,843,528	08.1
2001	14,333,555	03.5
2002	15,084,667	05.2
2003	15,856,084	05.1
2004	17,138,373	08.1
2005	18,450,439	07.7
2006	21,196,382	14.9
2007	23,287,438	09.9
2008	23,466,711	00.8
2009	20,503,677	12.6
2010	18,431,064	10.1
2011	18,740,593	01.7
2012	19,099,649	01.9
2013	20,200,000	06.0
Sources: 1998–2001 – Aer Rianta[36] 2002–2005 – DAA[37] 2006–2013 – DAA[2]

Busiest routes

As can be seen from the list below, the top three routes from Dublin are all to London airports. As of 2013 the Dublin - London route is the worlds busiest international air route, with 640 weekly flights between the two cities.

20 busiest international routes at Dublin Airport (2012)

Rank	Airport	Passengers Handled	% Change 2011/12
1	London Heathrow	1,578,050	01.4
2	London Gatwick	937,572	01.4
3	London Stansted	677,609	07.9
4	Paris-Charles de Gaulle	608,205	00.0
5	Manchester	593,635	13.8
6	Birmingham	526,840	02.5
7	New York JFK	504,923	16.4
8	Frankfurt	502,284	14.4
9	Amsterdam	485,234	03.9
10	Malaga	435,471	02.9
11	Edinburgh	399,595	01.8
12	Faro	337,303	12.8
13	Madrid	326,231	01.2
14	Bristol	302,110	06.5
15	London Luton	301,200	07.4
16	Barcelona	290,593	04.1
17	Liverpool	277,518	10.2
18	Chicago O'Hare	276,403	08.5
19	Abu Dhabi	236,479	03.2
20	Boston	233,193	03.5
Source: Central Statistics Office[38]

Ground transport

Dublin Airport is located just off the M1 and the M50 10 km (6.2 mi)^[1] north from the city centre and 2 km (1.2 mi) south of the town of Swords. Until the Metro North rail link to Dublin city centre is completed (see below), the public transport options to the city are taxis, buses, and private transport. Passengers can however connect by bus or taxi to Dublin's railway stations.

Dublin Airport Parking

More than 22,000 public parking spaces. Largest car park in Ireland managed through an online prebooking system linked to ANPR and a DESIGNA Abacus Car Park system. All of the DAA car parks are regularly patrolled by the Airport Police Service.

• 19,300 Long term parking spaces
  • Express Red LT Car Park 8,400 spaces next to the airport, high frequency (5–8 min) shuttle bus provided by Firstgroup the parent company of Aircoach, transfer time 5 min.
  • Holiday Blue LT Car Park 8,600 spaces parallel to the main runway to the north of the airport. Shuttle bus frequency 10–15 min, transfer time 10 min.
  • Overflow Green LT Car Park. Only used in peak season.
• 2,900 short term parking spaces next to the terminal, 5 min walk to check-in.
  • Terminal 1 Car Parks
  • Short Term A, for T1 pick-up and drop off (450 spaces)
  • Short Term C, for stays of 1-7days (1445 spaces)
  • Collinstown Car Park. PRM (Blue Badge) parking (55 Spaces)
  • Terminal 2 Car Park (built 2010)
  • Single car park for Pick –up and dropoff and stays of 1-7days (950 spaces)
  • PRM (Blue Badge) parking (42 spaces)
  • Electric car charging (5 spaces)

Bus services

Dublin Airport is served by a large network of bus and coach routes, serving both the wider Dublin area and intercity links to the rest of Ireland. In Dublin city, Dublin Bus is the main provider of transport to and from the airport operating Airlink Express route 747 to the city centre terminus of Busáras and the railway stations of Dublin Connolly and Dublin Heuston. In addition, Dublin Bus runs local stopping services that serve such residential areas as Santry, Swords, Rathfarnham, Sutton, Malahide, Beaumont, Harold's Cross, Drumcondra and Portmarnock.

Aircoach offers a number of coach services from the Airport to the Dublin area, serving both the city centre and surrounding areas including Donnybrook, Leopardstown, Sandyford, Dalkey, Greystones. Bray, Blackrock, Dun Laoghaire and Sandymount amongst others. At a national level, Bus Éireann offers a large number of routes from Dublin Airport to destinations such as Belfast, Galway, Wexford, Sligo, Donegal, Drogheda, Navan and Wicklow.

A number of private operators also run intercity services. Aircoach offers service to Cork and Belfast. Citylink and Gobus offer services to Galway while Eirebus and JJ Kavanagh operate regular services to Limerick, Kilkenny and Waterford.

Car rental

Car rental at Dublin Airport is serviced by all major car rental brands with Thrifty, Enterprise and Sixt car rental having desks in Terminal 1 only.

Rail

Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) provide suburban and intercity railway services from Dublin Connolly and Dublin Heuston railway stations. There are direct regular bus services to both stations from the airport. Some city bus services serve Drumcondra suburban railway station, which is on the Connolly to Maynooth railway line while the 102 route connects Dublin Airport to Sutton DART station. Bus services to Busáras/Dublin Connolly and Dublin Heuston railway stations connect with the Luas Red Line.

Plans for rail link

For many years, it was expected that Iarnród Éireann, the state railway company, would extend the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) with a spur off the Dublin to Belfast line that would serve the airport and Swords. These plans were replaced with plans for an underground metro line, which would run from the city centre to Swords via the airport. The route for the line, Metro North, was announced on 19 October 2006 and is designed to connect with several other modes of transport.

There will be three stops in Dublin's city centre, allowing transfers to both Luas lines, and the proposed DART Underground. Another transfer will be possible at Drumcondra. Beyond the airport, Metro North will continue to Swords, where many airport workers live. There will be a number of park and ride stops along the route.^[39] Journey time between the airport and St Stephen's Green will be 18 minutes.

On 12 August 2011, it was announced that the Metro North plan would be deferred indefinitely due to a lack of resources to fund the project.

Dublin Airport City

In 2008, The Dublin Airport Authority announced plans for an ambitious development of the Dublin Airport area and surrounding environs. This ambitious project would develop a 350-acre (1.4 km²) land reserve situated to the east of Dublin Airport and will cost in the region of €4 billion. Of this 350 acres (1.4 km²), 90% is already owned by the Dublin Airport Authority, and they are confident that they will be able to purchase the remaining pockets. The development will be mainly high rise, and will be expected to be completed by 2028. There will be 600,000 m² (6,500,000 sq ft) of office space along with 40,000 m² (430,000 sq ft) of retail, hotel and conference facilities. It is expected that the journey time from office to airport will be in the region of 6 minutes.^[40]

See also

• Airport Police (Ireland)

References

External links

Media related to Dublin Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Dublin Airport Authority
• Current weather for EIDW at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for DUB at Aviation Safety Network

v t e Swords Geography Dublin Fingal Demographics of Swords Neighbourhoods Applewood Brackenstown Holywell Knocksedan Rathbeale Transport Air Dublin Airport Knocksedan Heliport Bus Dublin Bus (33 33a 33b 33n 41 41a 41b 41c 41n 41x 42n 43 102 142) Bus Éireann (101 101N 101X) Swords Express (500 500X 501 501X 502) Connect (H1) Roads M1 R132 R106 R108 R125 R126 R127 E01 Features Swords Castle

v t e Transport in Dublin Air International airport Dublin Airport (DAA) Rail Light rail Luas (Veolia) Rapid transit DART (Iarnród Éireann) Tram* Dublin tramways (DUTC & GNR (I)): Clontarf and Hill of Howth Tramroad Blessington and Poulaphouca Steam Tramway Dublin and Blessington Steam Tramway Hill of Howth Tramway (GNR (I)) Dublin and Lucan Steam Tramway Lucan and Leixlip Steam Tramway Heavy rail InterCity (Iarnród Éireann) Commuter (Iarnród Éireann) Road Bus Aircoach Dublin Bus Bus Éireann Bus corridors College Green Bus Corridor Quality Bus Corridor Motorways M1 M2 M3 M4 M11 M50 National primary roads N1 N2 N3 N4 N7 N11 N31 N32 National secondary roads N81 N82 Regional roads R101 R102 R103 R104 R105 R106 R107 R108 R109 R110 R111 R112 R113 R114 R115 R116 R117 R118 R119 R120 R121 R122 R123 R124 R125 R126 R127 R128 R129 R130 R131 R132 R133 R134 R135 R136 R148 R156 R403 R445 R761 R810 R817 R821 R822 R824 R825 R826 European routes E01 E20 Other Bridges and tunnels dublinbikes Dublin Port Tunnel Local roads Streets and squares (list) Water Canals Royal Canal (Waterways Ireland) Grand Canal (Waterways Ireland) Ports Dublin Port Dún Laoghaire Harbour Agencies National Roads Authority National Transport Authority Public transport operators in Dublin Railway Procurement Agency *=Tram systems no longer run. Information in parentheses shows the operator(s)

v t e Airports in Ireland Northern Ireland Belfast City Belfast International City of Derry Enniskillen/St Angelo* Newtownards* Republic of Ireland Cork Donegal Dublin Kerry Knock Shannon Waterford Abbeyshrule* Bantry* Birr* Casement/Baldonnell* Connemara* Galway* Inishmore* Kilkenny* Newcastle* Sligo* Weston* * airports handling domestic, charter or private services only.