Ryanair lodges objection to Dublin Airport underpass

Daa says the airport needs the underpass but Ryanair says the project would 'contribute towards an excessively high per passenger price cap and damage the recovery of Irish aviation'

Ryanair argues that the business case for spending over €200m on an underpass under the 16/34 runway at Dublin Airport has not been made. Picture: Colin Keegan

Ryanair has lodged an objection to plans by Dublin airport operator, Daa, to construct a €200m tunnel under the 16/34 runway at the airport.

The airport operator lodged the plans last month with a Daa planning report stating that the underpass “will provide a short, quick and safe access” from the eastern campus to the western campus of the airport “that will avoid interfaces with operating runways and taxiways”.

The 700m tunnel will involve two lanes and extend to 1.1km in length. The project — if granted planning permission — will take three years to construct.

However, on behalf of Ryanair, Ray Ryan of BMA Planning has told Fingal County Council that “if the current underpass project is allowed to proceed, it will contribute towards an excessively high per passenger price cap and damage the recovery of Irish aviation, which depends on the cost competitiveness of Dublin airport”.

Mr Ryan points out that Ryanair is the largest airline using Dublin and therefore has a vested interest in all proposals which affect operations at the airport.

He said Ryanair “is concerned that these proposals will lead to considerable disruption to airport activities during the construction phase and that whether alternatives have been adequately addressed” and argues that the business case for spending over €200m on this project has not been made.

The Daa application states that the airport operations are primarily concentrated on the eastern campus and access to the west apron has become more difficult with the new north runway which became operational in August, as the only access route to the western side now to the western campus or apron is the northern perimeter road.

However, Mr Ryan states that Ryanair believes “that such an underpass is unnecessary because vehicular access between the east and west aprons of the airport is possible to achieve at surface levels if Runway 16/34 is closed intermittently to allow vehicular access as necessary but Runway 16/34 retained for cross-wind landings”.

Planning documents with the application state that the tunnel plan “is a stand alone proposal and is not reliant on future airport growth in order to be released, nor does future airport growth require the proposed development”.

Daa head of communications Kevin Cullinane said on Wednesday: “The underpass is required to improve access and safety on the airfield, allowing for the segregation of aircraft and vehicles, and the safe movement of vehicles to the west apron, which is restricted following the opening of the new north runway on August 24, 2022.”

He said: “Safe access to the west apron is critically important to existing cargo operations, transit operations, general aviation (GA), stand-by parking and contingency stands.”

A decision is due on the application later this month.