Dublin airport

Continuous growth in traffic levels may increase the need for a second runway at Ireland’s Dublin Airport, the country’s Transport Minister Pascal Donohoe has claimed.

During the first half of this year, around 11.5 million passengers have used the airport, which is an increase of 1.5 million customers over the past year, indicating a growth of more than 15%, reported Irish Independent.

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Donohoe told RTE’s Morning Ireland: "The airport has seen a 15% increase in traffic, we need to look at all infrastructure options in Dublin airport.

"If current growth was to continue into the future there would be a need for a parallel runway but there is a lot of work to do in that area."

"If current growth was to continue into the future there would be a need for a parallel runway but there is a lot of work to do in that area."

The plans for a second runway at the airport received a boost with the acquisition of AER Lingus by International Airlines Group (IAG),which plans to use the airport to feed traffic from Europe to North America.

In particular, the company intends to boost Aer Lingus feeder traffic through Dublin by an additional 2.4 million passengers a year over the next five years.

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While, the plans for the second runway were initially aborted during the recessionary period, the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) still has a valid permission to construct a new east-west runway.

Granted in 2007, the permission to construct the 1.6km runway to the north, which will run parallel to the existing main runway, remains valid for the next two years.

Donohoe announced the runway plans while launching the country’s aviation policy that includes strategies to maintain Dublin, Shannon and Cork airports under State ownership, and improve connectivity with emerging markets, while ensuring healthy competition among airlines operating in Ireland.

Image: Terminal 1 and 2 at Dublin Airport in Ireland. Photo: Courtesy of ColmDeSpáinn.