Grounded call for long-term planning at Dublin Airport

Aviation lobby group Grounded has called for a focus on long term capacity planning to ensure the long term need for Dublin Airport to handle increasing passenger numbers is addressed.

The group called for planning to be put in place to address the airport's needs 10 to 15 years down the line rather than a short to medium term approach.

"Despite the recent architectural consultant's report, which said that the proposed site for the new terminal had very limited long term growth potential, all indications still pointed to this as the most likely site.

"Not much can be done about bad planning in the past, but we now appear headed for a situation where, despite the Government having predicted the airport will handle 30 million passengers within 10 years, it will approve a terminal facility which will not be able to handle that number," according to spokesman, John Fitzpatrick.

Grounded also called on the Government to serve the need for additional freight handling capacity at Dublin Airport.