O’Leary’s Terminal II case rejected

THE space you allocate to letters is not large enough for me to address all of the untruths contained in Michael O’Leary’s letter (December 3), so instead I will merely tackle the three most blatant falsehoods.

1: Dublin airport’s Terminal II (T2) is costing €1.3 bn.

The overall T2 project is costing €609m. This covers the cost of the new terminal building (€395m), the new Pier E boarding gate facility, a new energy centre and a major upgrade of the airport’s Campus Road network. The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) is currently investing a total of €1.2bn to improve the passenger experience at Dublin airport. This investment programme includes not just T2, but also the Pier D facility opened in October 2007, the extension to Terminal 1 which opened in April of this year, new car hire facilities, €80m worth of new aircraft parking stands and taxiways and a €50m investment in new water, waste, electricity, gas and communications services for the airport campus.

2: The DAA did not consult with its airline customers.

Mr O’Leary claims “the DAA did not consult with its airline customers” and yet Aer Lingus – one of those airline customers which allegedly wasn’t consulted – has actually praised the DAA’s consultation process as a model of how airports should operate. The facts are that DAA consulted widely with its airline customers, ground-handlers and other stakeholders before finalising the design and specification of T2 during 2006. This is what Aer Lingus said about that consultation process in a formal submission to the aviation regulator in July 2007:

“This specification (for T2) has been the result of a detailed consultation with airport users, which was fair and balanced. We believe that this process is exactly what airports should go through in determining the level of future facilities that should be provided.”

3: Dublin airport’s costs are very high by EU standards

There is no such thing as an “EU standard” airport charge because there is no such thing as a standard EU airport. To compare businesses and charges one compares like with like.

Dublin airport is comparable to other large European airports such as Brussels, Copenhagen, Zurich and Oslo. Comparing it to minor regional airports such as Hahn or Bremen is totally meaningless and without merit.

Independent studies by Airports Council International and the Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR) both confirm that charges at Dublin airport are among the lowest of any comparable European airport.

Paul O’Kane

Director of Public Affairs

Dublin Airport Authority