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Dublin Airport plans to lodge a planning application for a major new runway before the end of the current year. The proposed facility will be required by the end of the decade to cater for continued strong growth in aviation traffic and passenger numbers.
"We are currently implementing a range of measures to use our existing runway system as efficiently as possible," said Robert Hilliard, Director Dublin Airport. "But we will need to have a new runway in place within the next five or six years by when passenger numbers will have risen to well over 20m per annum. Otherwise demand for runway space will exceed capacity, aircraft will not be able to land and take-off on time, and the overall expansion of the airport will be curtailed.
"Any constraint on the growth of the airport will also affect the wider local, regional and national economies," he added. "Research shows that the economic contribution of the airport directly and indirectly to the Greater Dublin region and to Ireland as a whole represents approximately 1.3% of Gross National Product per annum. Some 120 companies are based at the airport supporting close to 12,000 jobs on the campus and an estimated 39,000 jobs throughout the country. The proposed new runway would facilitate additional aircraft and passenger traffic and support a significant increase in overall employment and annual income. This is a project of major local and national importance."
A detailed Environmental Impact Scheme (EIS) is currently being completed and will be submitted with the planning application. The EIS will assess the possible impact of the new runway on a range of environmental and social issues and provide details of Dublin Airport's plans to mitigate and manage any such effects. As part of the pre-planning process, a second public consultation is taking place this week in the Great Southern Hotel at Dublin Airport to advise people on the scope and nature of the forthcoming EIS.
"We have engaged in a consultation process about the proposed runway with the airlines and other customers at the airport and with our neighbouring communities and representative organisations throughout Fingal and the wider region. This process will be intensified over the coming weeks and months as we enter the initial planning stages. We understand and appreciate the concerns many people might have about a project of this nature and we intend to listen to all such concerns and address the issues raised, as comprehensively and as sympathetically as possible," Robert Hilliard stressed.
"Because of the long lead time in planning and constructing major transport infrastructure in Ireland however, we consider it prudent to apply for planning permission at this stage, well in advance of the date the new runway will be required."
The proposed new runway will be located 1.7 km north of, and parallel to, the airport's existing main runway, 10/28. It will replace an existing short runway, 11/29, and will be built on land already owned by the airport. It will be 3110 metres long and 60 metres wide and will be connected to the existing complex by a series of taxiways. The estimated cost of the project is approximately €130m. Plans for a parallel runway have been incorporated in the Fingal County Development Plan since the early 1970s.
Ends
12th October, 2004
Further Information Contact:
Vincent Wall - 087.6860727
Siobhan Moore -
087.2710065
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