dublin airport terminal

The air bridges will not be built for now, but may be built at some later date if the customer base for that pier changes. For now, this pier is meant to allow for an expansion of low-cost short-haul services by Ryanair, Aer Lingus and the like, who are adamantly against the use of air bridges because of the associated service charges.

Also, air bridges slow down the turnaround time as the airline is dependent on airport employees to manoeuvre the bridge to/from the plane. I’ve landed in Dublin a number of times where we’ve taxied to the air bridge and been told that there would be a 5 miniute wait for some DAA person to operate it.

DAA have finally released more information (and pictures:D ) of T2
Pictures here
Fact Sheet

Statement also.

I think like it, Big improvment by the sounds of it.

New Terminal to Transform Dublin Airport

The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) is to build a new €395m terminal at Dublin Airport capable of handling up to 15 million passengers per year.

Construction of T2 is due to begin in the second quarter of next year and the new terminal will open in the Autumn of 2009. T2 will transform the passenger experience for travellers using Dublin Airport and raise capacity at the airport to a potential 35 million passengers per year.

“T2 will provide an elegant and contemporary gateway for 21st century Ireland,” said DAA chairman Gary McGann. “It provides a cost effective solution to Dublin Airport’s current capacity deficit that meets the Government’s requirement for delivery by 2009 and it represents a further significant milestone for the DAA in its commitment to deliver on its key shareholder and customer objectives.”
T2 will be a bright, modern building designed specifically to meet travellers’ needs. It will feature large airy spaces in areas such as check-in, baggage reclaim, security and the departures lounge. The 75,000 square metre terminal will also have dedicated facilities to meet the needs of business travellers and families travelling with young children. The public areas will create a calm and relaxing environment for arriving and departing passengers alike.
The planning application for T2 will be lodged this week with Fingal County Council together with a planning application for a new pier building (Pier E), an improved internal road network, a major utilities upgrade and a range of other associated works. The total cost, at current prices, of the terminal and the other new infrastructure for which planning permission is being sought is just over €600m.

T2 will be built close to the roundabout on the existing approach road to Terminal One. As part of the plan for T2, the internal roads at Dublin Airport will be upgraded and reconfigured to create separate dedicated approach routes for T1 and T2. Locations for a future Metro station and a ground transportation centre are also provided in the development plan.

T2 is a three-storey, curvilinear building that sits astride the main access road to Terminal One. The building has two main components – a check-in area and a departures and arrivals area – connected by a link that forms part of the central spine of the new building. The way in which T2 sits astride the road means that all arriving vehicular traffic for the existing passenger terminal will pass under this link on its way to T1.

In the spacious new check-in area passengers will find almost 60 traditional check-in desks and ample self-service kiosks and self-serve bag drop positions. Having passed through a centralised security area, they will enter a large departures lounge with retail and catering outlets providing views over the airfield. Passengers will then continue onto the boarding gates in the new Pier E to board their aircraft.

The new facilities allow arriving passengers move from gate to landside through the centre of the terminal without a change in levels. Another feature of T2’s design is that all passengers will pass through the heart of the building whether they are departing or arriving.

Aer Lingus is expected to be the primary user of T2 and the new terminal will also be home to other transatlantic and intercontinental carriers. The new 24,000 square metre Pier E facility, which is perpendicular to T2, will have gates for up to 19 short-haul aircraft or up to eight long-haul aircraft.

DAA chief executive Declan Collier said that while T2 would open in 2009, passengers using Dublin Airport would begin to see improvements in facilities from later this year. Work is currently underway on Area 14, a new lower ground floor check-in area in T1 that will open this December. The construction of Pier D, which will open in Autumn 2007, is also progressing and it will create a vibrant new departures area with 14 new gates for fast turnaround short-haul aircraft.

“We are acting to deliver new capacity at Dublin Airport to meet the needs of the travelling public and our airline partners,” he added. “In recent years, the facilities at Dublin have not kept pace with the huge growth in passenger numbers. But with the advent of T2, Pier E and our plan to upgrade the entire airport campus, we will deliver a high-quality, cost-effective, contemporary gateway for Irish air travellers and visitors to this country alike. In this context we welcome the fact that the cost-effective basis of the plans we announce today, will be affirmed by the independent cost verification consultants appointed by the Government.”

He added that the plans for T2 and Pier E are key elements of a major Airport Development Programme at Dublin Airport that also includes a new parallel runway, an extension to the existing Terminal One facility and a range of other upgrades and improvements due to be delivered over the next 10 years.

The design and specification of T2 and its associated infrastructure has been developed following a detailed consultation process with the airlines and other key stakeholders at Dublin Airport. This process revealed significantly more aggressive growth plans on the part of the principal airlines based at the Airport than had been anticipated when the DAA published its initial draft airport development plans a year ago.

“Our commitment to addressing the requirements of all our airline customers, service providers and passengers as effectively as possible, has led to a significant increase in the scope of our initial development plan and an acceleration in the delivery of some key supporting infrastructure,” said Declan Collier.

“To deliver the plans we announce today and the other essential infrastructure required, the DAA’s longer-term development plan for Dublin Airport will exceed the €1.2bn outlined in last year’s initial projections. We are currently engaged with the Regulator and other stakeholders with regard to the detail of this future investment.”

T2 has been designed by a project team comprising Arup, Pascall + Watson and Mace. The consortium was appointed as project manager and designer for T2, Pier E and all associated integration works earlier this year. The firms have previously worked on other major airport projects such as Heathrow’s Terminal 5, Beijing’s new Terminal 3, Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok International Airport and Seeb International Airport in Oman.

Ends
Issued 30th August 2006

It looks very nice but I must admit to being unimpressed with the capacity it will and could provide. The current terminal deals with 20 million passengers. Why not build a second terminal with at least that much capacity. Fine, the proposed T2 might suffice for a while but there is no room onsite to expand it. Also the cost seems excessive, airports aren’t meant to be gorgeous – Function over Form!

p.s. all RTE videos are availible on RTE.ie/news

In answer to your first question, I said that aiports aren’t meant to be gorgeous. You don’t have to agree!

Consider the original Terminal building, it’s a rather splendid construction lost in the current maze of extensions to the Terminal. Personally I find it painful on the eye to see something like this, a work of art so seriously compromised. A similar effect will be had if/when the new Terminal goes up.

Given that aiports will require to be extended or modernised every so often surely the most sensible thing to be would be to either build a monolith that could cope with all forseeable predictions (like Stazione Centrale in Milan) – although this would mean having forward vision and willingness to invest money in the future (in low supply in todays Ireland) or alternatively build something functional that can be easilly extended. I’m thinking of the Concourse building in NUI, Galway which has been extended so many times without taking away from the integrity of its design.

RPA dude was on Newstalk a few minutes ago, and not only is the main Metro stop going under the liffey with entrances north and south, but the Airport stop will be in the new terminal, not the Great Southern Hotel. He also said there will be a stop at Drumcondra.

Ryanair is creating a new hub at Bremen
From Irish Times breaking news : <>

So, for 1 million passengers they need a terminal costing euro 7.9 million
or, for 15 million passengers they need one costing about 120 million, (not allowing for any economies of scale. )

YET we hear (from article in earlier post <>

This is only 330% more expensive….. can they bring it in on that budget??
KB2

@a boyle wrote:

this underground has no chance of being built in the next decade so i would not pay it too much attention.

quite simply there is no way it will be built before the new terminal is in place as it would cause too much disruption..

And when bus start shuttling people through the port tunnel much faster than the metro will be able to , i think people will start to question the phenomenal expense.

For now it is trams (which if enough were built would be perfectly adequate).

Here we go again!

Ryanair submits objection to airport terminal plans
26/09/2006 – 12:07:47

Ryanair has submitted an objection to Fingal County Council against the Dublin Airport Authority’s plans for a second passenger terminal.

The airline claims the DAA’s plans are badly designed and overpriced and will result in tax increases for passengers.

It is proposing that it build the terminal itself in a different location and at a third of the price put forward by the airport authority.

Ryanair claims it can construct the facility for €250m, with a greater passenger capacity than that proposed by the DAA.

yeh micky’s argument is not a planning one whatsoever, whereas UPROAR at least have real environmental concerns. Problem is Dublin County Council, in their ultra corrupt phase, decided to build a suburb in a proposed flight path back in the 1970’s and 80’s so they’re to blame. I’m not suggesting Portmarnock grew as a result of criminal activity, it’s just odd that such a mangled decision occured in Rambo’s back yard. They knew the Airport would grow and would require infrastructure.

The issue however for UPROAR is not the Terminal, it;s the 2nd runway, currently at oral hearing. The terminal is a no-brainer to anyone who’s been there recently but UPROAR are trying to push an alternative site for the growth of the airport, as you may have seen in correpsondences to newspapers because the proposed flight path is over their heads… an absolute pisser, but i reckon the growth of Dublin Airport is utterly unstoppable and the situation may arise where Portmarnock ends up in terminal decline (no pun intended, or avoided!!!) while the rest of the region gets the airport it deserves…

it sucks balls, i used to live in portmarnock so i sympathise. It was a great place with the beach and loadsa open space to get up to all sorts as a kid but it seems like it’s fucked now. i’d be very surprised if An Bord Pleanala would contravene the National Development PLan and refuse either the runway or the terminal… then again they granted that puked up sack of crap at Stillorgan and the Monkstown Ring Road, both of which were abominations so christ knows what goes on in their collective heads…