Dublin Airport

Dublin Airport Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath
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IATA: DUB – ICAO: EIDW
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Government of Ireland
Operator	daa
Serves	Dublin, Ireland
Location	Collinstown, Fingal, Ireland
Hub for	Aer Lingus Aer Lingus Regional
Elevation AMSL	242 ft / 74 m
Coordinates
Website	www.dublinairport.com
Map
DUB Location within Ireland
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 10/28 2,637 8,652 Asphalt 16/34 2,072 6,798 Asphalt
Statistics (2014)
Passengers 21,712,173 Passenger change 13–14 7.7% Aircraft movements 174,383 Movements change 13–14 6.5%
Source: Irish AIS Passengers Aircraft Movements

Dublin Airport, (Irish: Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath) (IATA: DUB, ICAO: EIDW), is an international airport serving Dublin, the capital city of Ireland. It is operated by daa. The airport is located 5.4 nmi (10.0 km; 6.2 mi) north of Dublin in Collinstown, County Dublin. In 2014, 21.7 million passengers passed through the airport, making it the busiest of the state's airports by total passenger traffic. It also has the greatest traffic levels on the island of Ireland followed by Belfast International Airport, County Antrim.

The airport has an extensive short and medium haul network, served by an array of carriers as well as some intercontinental routes focused in the Middle East and North America. It serves as the headquarters of Ireland's flag carrier – Aer Lingus, regional airline Stobart Air, Europe's largest low-cost carrier – Ryanair, ASL Airlines Ireland, together with a fifth airline, CityJet, which doesn't maintain major operations here.

United States border preclearance services are available at the airport for US-bound passengers. Shannon Airport is the only other airport in Europe to offer this facility.

History

The beginnings in the 1930s and early 1940s

The original international style passenger terminal, completed in 1940

In 1936 the Executive Council of the Irish Free State established a new civil airline, Aer Lingus, which began operating from the military aerodrome, Casement Aerodrome, at Baldonnel to the southwest of Dublin. A decision was made that a civil airport should replace Baldonnel as Dublin's airport The townlands of Collinstown, Rock and Corballis in the Barony of Coolock were selected as the location for the new civil aerodrome. Collinstown's first association with aviation was as a British military air base during World War I, but that field had been unused since 1922. Construction of the new airport began in 1937. By the end of 1939, a grass airfield surface, internal roads, car parks and electrical power and lighting were set up. The inaugural flight from Dublin took place on 19 January 1940 to Liverpool. In August 1938, work began on a new airport terminal building. The terminal building was designed by architect Desmond FitzGerald, brother of politician Garret FitzGerald. It opened in early 1941, with its design heavily influenced by the bridges of the luxury ocean liners of the time. The terminal was awarded the Triennial Gold Medal of the Royal Hibernian Institute of Architects, and is today a listed building.

An Aer Lingus DC-3 plane at Dublin Airport's original Terminal 1 in May 1950.

Upon the outbreak of World War II, services were severely restricted at Dublin Airport until late 1945 and the only international scheduled route operated during this time was by Aer Lingus to Liverpool (and for a period to Manchester's Barton Aerodrome). Three new concrete runways were completed by 1947.

Expanding in the 1950s

Throughout the 1950s Dublin Airport expanded with virtually uninterrupted traffic growth. Runway extensions and terminal enhancements were carried out to deal with the influx of traffic and passengers. New airlines began serving the airport also. These included British European Airways, Sabena and BKS. In 1958 a new transatlantic service was started by Aer Lingus via Shannon Airport. During the 1960s the number of scheduled carriers continued to grow and aircraft continued to evolve with technological advancement. By the close of the 1960s, a sizeable number of Boeing 737s, BAC One-Elevens, Boeing 707s, and Hawker Siddeley Tridents were using the airport on a regular basis. During 1969, it handled 1,737,151 passengers.

The advent of wide-body aircraft posed opportunities and challenges for aviation. In 1971, Aer Lingus took delivery of two new Boeing 747 aircraft; the first one arrived in March and, shortly afterwards, performed a flyover above O'Connell Street in Dublin on Saint Patrick's Day; a third Boeing 747 was delivered later that decade. To cope with this, a new passenger terminal capable of handling five million passengers per year was opened in 1972. The growth which was anticipated at Dublin's airport (and provided for through heavy investment by the airport and Aer Lingus) during the 1970s did not materialise immediately.

Two of the airport's largest operators side-by-side, a Ryanair BAC 1-11 (front) and an Aer Lingus Boeing 737 (rear) in 1993

An Aer Lingus Boeing 737-200 and a Ryanair BAC-111 in July 1992

An Aer Lingus Boeing 747 in May 1994

An Aer Lingus Boeing 737-400 and a British Airways ATR 42

Continuing in the 1980s

In 1983 Aer Lingus opened its 'Aer Lingus Commuter' division which took delivery of Shorts, Saab AB, and Fokker turboprop aircraft to open regular daily domestic services to and from Ireland's smaller regional airports for the first time, as well as to serve existing routes to smaller regional airports in the United Kingdom. At various stages of its operations, flights were operated to several Irish regional airports to feed passengers into Aer Lingus's international network. These domestic destinations included Cork Airport, Shannon Airport, Kerry Airport, Galway Airport, Ireland West Airport Knock, Waterford Airport, Sligo Airport, and City of Derry Airport. Aer Lingus Commuter has since been re-absorbed into the main company. The domestic routes, with the exception of Dublin-Shannon, were taken over by Aer Arann. Most of these routes have since been discontinued as the development of the motorway network in Ireland has resulted in significant reductions in travelling time by road. Aer Lingus has continued with the remaining Dublin–UK flights.

During the 1980s, major competition, especially on the Dublin–London routes, resulted in passenger numbers swelling to 5.1 million in 1989. In the same year a new 8,650 ft (2,640 m) runway and a state-of-the-art air traffic control centre were opened. Dublin Airport continued to expand rapidly in the 1990s. Pier A, which had been the first extension to the old terminal building, was significantly extended. A new Pier C, complete with air bridges, was built and as soon as this was completed, work commenced to extend it to double its capacity. The ground floor of the original terminal building was returned to passenger service after many years to provide additional departure gates. Pier D, completed in October 2007, is a dedicated low-fares boarding area and provides 14 quick turn-around stands and departure gates; these are not served by air bridges.

The Bilateral Air Transport Agreement

In 1993, a major milestone for the airport was the signing of a new United States – Ireland bilateral agreement which allowed airlines to operate some direct transatlantic services for the first time to/from Dublin Airport instead of touching down en route at Shannon Airport on the west coast of Ireland. (Shannon had once been a major transatlantic refuelling stop for pre-jet aircraft, and this agreement was designed to protect the interests of the Shannon region when modern jets no longer required a refuelling stop and Shannon saw a fall-off in traffic.) Airlines still had to provide an equal number of flights either to or through Shannon as to Dublin. A gradual further watering down of Shannon's so-called 'stopover' status came into effect in November 2006 when more direct flights to Dublin were allowed. The stopover requirement disappeared completely in 2008. At that time, airlines were allowed to fly direct to the US from Dublin without having to match these with any to/from Shannon. It was expected that this would result in a huge increase in services between Dublin and the US, and Aer Lingus has identified 16 destinations that it would like to serve directly from Dublin.

Recent history

With the success of Ireland's 'Celtic Tiger' economy, Dublin Airport saw growth in the 1990s and 2000s. This demand was driven by an increased demand for business travel to and from the country, together with an increase in inward tourism, and a surge in demand for foreign holidays and city breaks from the Irish. In January 2006, the number of trips abroad taken by the Irish outnumbered the number of inbound trips for the first time since records began.

Finally, the demand from Ireland's migrant workers, principally those from Eastern Europe, has resulted in a large number of new routes opening to destinations in the European Union accession states. Ireland was one of only three European Union countries (as well as the United Kingdom and Sweden) to open its borders freely to workers from the ten accession states that joined the European Union in 2004. This resulted in hundreds of thousands of people moving to Ireland from these countries since then.

The airport saw significant declines in traffic in 2009 and 2010, although since 2011 the airport has seen an increase in traffic. During 2012, this increase continued with passenger numbers growing by 1.9%. During 2013, passenger numbers at Dublin Airport were above the 20 million mark for the first time since 2009 with a 5.6% increase year on year. During 2014 this positive trend continued with an 8% increase over 2013. As of early December 2015, passenger figures have increased by 16% compared to 2014, and the previous record of 23.46 million passengers set in 2008 has already been passed.

Long-haul traffic

daa has ambitious long-haul expansion plans and has successfully added new routes to North America and the Middle East in recent years. It has yet to secure a direct route to East Asia. Like most airports, the effects of the September 11, 2001 attacks affected transatlantic traffic but this has since recovered to record levels.

Dublin Airport operates Intercontinental routes to North America, Africa and the Middle East. In total, 22 Intercontinental destinations are connected directly to Dublin Airport. In 2007, Etihad Airways opened a flight between Dublin Airport and Abu Dhabi with 10 flights weekly in operation since March 2010. In addition, Emirates have operated a direct connection to Dubai since January 2012. In total, there are 17 destinations in North America connected directly to Dublin Airport by Aer Lingus, Air Canada Rouge, American Airlines, Delta and United Airlines. A new service to Ethiopia in 2015 will be the first service to Africa, excluding holiday services to Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.

Open Skies and the Shannon Stopover

In the mid twentieth century, the Irish government introduced a rule stating that all air traffic between Ireland and the United States must transit through Shannon airport. In return, the United States government placed a limit of four airports in the US that Aer Lingus could operate to. On 22 March 2007, the Open skies agreement between the US and EU was ratified. This resulted in the immediate cancellation of the long-running 'Shannon Stopover' requirement, whereby the Irish government had insisted that 50% of all transatlantic flights between Ireland and the United States must pass through Shannon Airport.

US border preclearance

Dublin Airport is one of only two airports in Europe with United States border preclearance services for US-bound passengers (the other being Shannon Airport). It allows passengers to have their paperwork dealt with before departure saving time upon arrival in the United States.

Aer Rianta and daa/Dublin Airport Authority

Main article: Dublin Airport Authority

daa headquarters at Dublin Airport

In October 2004, Aer Rianta (which means 'Air Ways' or 'Air Tracks' in Irish) was renamed as the Dublin Airport Authority plc, following the State Airports Act 2004. All assets and liabilities previously owned by Aer Rianta were transferred to Dublin Airport Authority. The State Airports Act 2004 also established new airport authorities at Shannon and Cork Airports. The Shannon Airport Authority and the Cork Airport Authority had separate boards of directors and were authorised under the Act to prepare business plans, which may have in time lead to their full separation from the Dublin Airport Authority. Following a decision by the Irish Government, Shannon Airport became a separate publicly owned airport on 31 December 2012.

In July 2013, the Dublin Airport Authority was officially renamed "daa plc" by the Irish Government. The rename was principally to remove the "Dublin" and "Authority" elements of the name which were seen to have little relevance to the overall functions of the DAA. The name change announced in July 2013 took effect on 6 November 2014.

As the largest gateway to Ireland, over 21.1 million passengers travelled through the airport in 2006, a 2.7 million (or 15%) increase over 2005. The main contributors to the growth in traffic in 2005 were the airport's routes to continental Europe (particularly Poland and the Baltic region), North America, and the Middle East. Domestic and UK traffic had showed a small decline in 2005, but grew by 25% and 4% respectively in 2006. The decline in 2005 was due to a reduction in connecting traffic between Ireland's regional airports and the UK. This was as a result of a growing direct network of routes between those airports and the UK and continental Europe, dispensing with the need to transit at Dublin. But the organic demand at Dublin resulted in a net increase in those markets in 2006. Dublin Airport also welcomes over one million passengers per annum from Northern Ireland, whose largest airport is less than a quarter the size of Dublin in terms of passenger numbers.

Passenger terminals

Terminal 1

Terminal 1 departures level

The current Terminal 1 building originally opened in 1972, and was initially designed to handle five million passengers per year. The original design included a second pier which would have been identical to the current decagon-shaped boarding Pier B, but this was never built. A car park was originally located on the upper floor of the building, and the access ramps are still in place but it was closed for security reasons in the 1970s and converted into offices. Terminal 1 has been regularly extended and improved over the last two decades. In October 2007, a new pier designed by Larry Oltmanns, while design director of the London office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, who also designed graphics for its interior, was opened to the north of terminal 1. This pier caters for the majority of Ryanair flights. In 2009, a new extension featuring new food and retail outlets was added to the side of Terminal 1. Terminal 1 is currently home to all short haul flights, except those of Aer Lingus. WestJet, Air Canada and Air Transat are the sole long haul operators based out of Terminal 1 each offering seasonal services until May 2014 when Air Canada's new low cost carrier Rouge will begin daily year round Toronto-Dublin. As of 2012, Terminal 1 offers free Wi-Fi access. Pier C was demolished during the construction of Terminal 2.

Terminal 2

Terminal 2

Terminal 2 is a 75,000 m² (810,000 sq ft) terminal and pier (Pier E) which provides 19 air bridges for aircraft and is capable of handling 15 million passengers annually, thereby allowing the airport to handle 35 million passengers a year. The project was designed by Pascall+Watson architects, and the total cost is put at €600 million. Another pier (Pier F) is planned to be built to the south of Terminal 2 when required. The majority of long-haul carriers have moved to Terminal 2, including Aer Lingus, which has relocated all its mainline operations. Terminal 2 also features the US pre-clearance immigration facility which was previously housed in Terminal 1. Construction of Terminal 2 began on 1 October 2007, and was officially opened on 19 November 2010 by the then Taoiseach Brian Cowen T.D. When the project was commissioned, it seemed like a reasonable investment. But after the opening, the project was subject to some criticism, as it had opened at a time when air traffic at Dublin airport had been subject to declines due to the economic downturn. Mainline carriers like Aer Lingus, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Emirates, Etihad Airways, and United Airlines use Terminal 2.

Safety and security

daa has its own branch of the Airport Police Service which is mandated to provide aviation and general policing at the airport. The Airport Police Station is centrally located on the Arrivals road between Terminals 1 and 2. The airport also has its own Airport Fire and Rescue Service which provides cover to the entire campus, its roadways and lands. The fire service responds to all aircraft incidents, domestic fires, medical emergencies and road traffic collisions.

The Office of the Revenue Commissioners provide a customs service to both passenger and cargo terminals, while the Department of Agriculture also has a presence in the airport. Garda Síochána (GNIB) provides an Immigration service for all international passengers arriving at the airport. The Gardaí also have a small sub-station located beside the old terminal.

Maintenance facilities

Aer Lingus, Ryanair, CityJet, Eirtech and Dublin Aerospace have aircraft maintenance hangars and facilities at Dublin Airport. In 2010 Etihad Airways announced a new maintenance hangar which will handle the Airbus A330-200 which the airline uses on their route from Dublin. In time the airline will allow other airlines to use this facility.

Airport developments

Capacity

Due to the growth experienced at Dublin Airport in recent years, the facility became congested. One part or another of the airport has been a building site for the past two decades. Despite the building works and extensions, it is widely accepted by the DAA that Terminal 1 and its infrastructure were insufficient to deal with the volume of passengers. Both the Irish Government and the DAA have come under pressure from airlines and passengers alike to once-and-for-all provide a realistic increase in capacity for the future. As a result, the DAA plan to invest €2 billion in a 10-year capital development programme to effectively double the size of the passenger facilities of Dublin Airport.

Criticism

View of the Airport in 2008, prior to the construction of Terminal 2

The plans for Terminal 2 have been met with ongoing criticism from those who argued that, once built, it could not be extended to provide any additional capacity, owing to its location. A third terminal, which is in the blueprint for the future of the airport, would most likely be located between the parallel runways.

The greatest objections continue to come from Ryanair. The no-frills carrier has long lobbied for Terminal 2 to be built as a low-cost facility, and run by a competing operator. They have even offered to build and operate such a facility. However, the Irish government decided that the DAA would build T2 and that its operation would be put out to tender. In March 2010 it was decided that T2 would be operated by the DAA as the other applicants did not meet the requirements for operating the terminal.

New air traffic control complex

Planning is currently under way for a new air traffic control complex and control tower which will replace the existing structure. The new facility has been designed by Scott Tallon Walker architects. A planning application was submitted in August 2009. The new control tower will be 86.9 m (285 ft) in height. The new control tower is necessary because the construction of the future parallel runway will obstruct visibility of certain parts of the airport from the existing control tower.

New runway

Main Apron seen from the air Pier C (centre, now replaced by Terminal 2) clearly visible with Cargo ramp and Ryanair Maintenance facilities.

A new runway measuring 3,110 m (10,203 ft) is planned to be built parallel to the existing runway 10/28, which opened on 21 June 1989. Detailed proposals and planning permission were submitted to Fingal County Council (under whose jurisdiction Dublin Airport lies) and approved in April 2006. An appeal to An Bord Pleanála (The Irish Planning Appeals Board), which determines appeals and other cases under the national planning acts, was heard in September 2006, and this resulted in the granting of permission in August 2007, with 31 planning conditions attached.

The new runway will replace runway 11/29 (which is no longer in use as a runway, and is used for aircraft parking) and will be built 1,690 m (5,545 ft) to the north of and parallel to the existing runway 10/28. The new runway will allow the airport to accommodate 30 million passengers per annum once in operation, and will be 3,110 m (10,203 ft) long. In March 2009 the DAA announced in a proposal for consultation that the new runway may be built to a length of 3,660 m (12,008 ft) following consultation with potential long-haul carriers. A runway of this length would allow direct flights from Dublin to the Far East. The runway was expected to cost in the region of €300 million.

In the meantime, the company has invested heavily in extending aprons and creating rapid exit taxiways to derive maximum efficiency from the existing main runway. Runway 11/29, the shortest and one of the oldest runways, is closed to allow overspill aircraft parking. This runway will disappear under the new parallel runway in due course.

However, in December 2008, the Dublin Airport Authority announced that it would postpone the construction of the new parallel runway by three to four years, on account of the need to cut costs and predictions of falling consumer demand for air travel. This is a result of the recent global financial crisis.

In the latest Capital Expenditure Document in 2014, it states that the runway will now only be 3,110 m (10,203 ft), not the original 3,660 m (12,008 ft) planned.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Airlines	Destinations	Terminal
Aegean Airlines	Seasonal: Athens (begins 20 June 2016)	1
Aer Lingus	Agadir, Alicante, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin-Tegel, Birmingham, Bordeaux, Boston, Brussels, Budapest, Chicago-O'Hare, Copenhagen (ends 25 March 2016), Düsseldorf, Faro, Frankfurt, Geneva, Gran Canaria, Hamburg, Lanzarote, Lisbon, Liverpool, London-Gatwick, London-Heathrow, Los Angeles (resumes 4 May 2016), Lyon, Madrid, Málaga, Manchester, Milan-Linate, Milan-Malpensa, Munich, New York-JFK, Newark (resumes 1 September 2016), Nice, Orlando-International, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Prague, Rome-Fiumicino, San Francisco, Tenerife-South, Toulouse, Venice, Verona, Vienna, Warsaw-Chopin, Zürich Seasonal: Athens, Bilbao, Bologna, Burgas, Catania, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Fuerteventura, İzmir, Marseille, Montpellier (begins 20 May 2016), Murcia (begins 27 March 2016), Nantes, Naples, Palma de Mallorca, Perpignan, Pisa (begins 18 May 2016), Pula, Santiago de Compostela, Stuttgart, Washington-Dulles Seasonal charter: Reykjavík-Keflavík, Salzburg	2
Aer Lingus operated by ASL Airlines Ireland	Hartford (begins 28 September 2016), Toronto-Pearson Seasonal: Boston, New York-JFK, Washington-Dulles	2
Aer Lingus Regional operated by Stobart Air	Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Doncaster/Sheffield, Donegal, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow-International, Isle of Man, Kerry, Leeds/Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne Seasonal: Jersey, Newquay, Rennes	2
Air Canada Rouge	Toronto-Pearson Seasonal: Vancouver (begins 10 June 2016)	1
Air Europa	Seasonal charter: Palma de Mallorca	1
Air France operated by CityJet	Paris-Charles de Gaulle	1
Air Moldova	Chișinău	1
Air Transat	Seasonal: Montréal-Trudeau, Toronto-Pearson	1
American Airlines	Philadelphia Seasonal: Charlotte, Chicago-O'Hare, New York-JFK	2
Arkia	Seasonal: Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion	1
ASL Airlines France	Seasonal: Halifax	1
ASL Airlines Ireland	Charter: Salzburg Seasonal charter: Burgas, Chambéry, Dalaman, Dubrovnik, Faro, Fuerteventura (begins 4 June 2016), Funchal, Lanzarote, Menorca (begins 22 May 2016), Naples, Palma de Mallorca, Reus, Split, Turin, Verona, Zakynthos	1
Blue Air	Bacău, Bucharest-Otopeni, Cluj-Napoca (begins 4 June 2016)	1
British Airways	London-Heathrow	1
British Airways operated by BA CityFlyer	London-City	1
CityJet	London-City	1
Corendon Airlines	Seasonal charter: Bodrum (begins 1 May 2016)	1
Croatia Airlines	Seasonal charter: Dubrovnik	1
Delta Air Lines	New York-JFK Seasonal: Atlanta	2
Emirates	Dubai-International	2
Ethiopian Airlines	Addis Ababa, Los Angeles	1
Etihad Airways	Abu Dhabi	2
Eurowings	Seasonal: Düsseldorf	1
Finnair operated by Nordic Regional Airlines	Helsinki	1
Flybe	Bournemouth (ends 27 March 2016), Cardiff, Exeter, Southampton Seasonal charter: Verona	1
Flybe operated by Loganair	Inverness	1
Germanwings	Cologne/Bonn Seasonal: Düsseldorf	1
Iberia Express	Madrid	1
Icelandair	Seasonal charter: Reykjavík-Keflavík	1
Lufthansa	Frankfurt, Munich	1
Luxair	Luxembourg Seasonal charter: Faro	1
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Copenhagen, Oslo-Gardermoen Seasonal: Helsinki	1
Ryanair	Alicante, Amsterdam, Athens (begins 18 March 2016), Barcelona, Basel/Mulhouse, Beauvais, Bergamo, Berlin-Schönefeld, Birmingham, Bratislava, Bremen, Bristol, Brussels, Bucharest-Otopeni, Budapest, Bydgoszcz, Carcassonne, Charleroi, Cologne/Bonn, Copenhagen, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Eindhoven, Faro, Fuerteventura, Gdańsk, Glasgow-International, Gran Canaria, Hahn, Katowice, Kaunas, Kraków, Lanzarote, Leeds/Bradford, Lisbon, Liverpool, Łódź, London-Gatwick, London-Luton, London-Stansted, Lublin, Madrid, Málaga, Malta, Manchester, Marrakesh, Memmingen, Moss, Nantes, Newcastle upon Tyne, Nice, Poznań, Prague, Riga, Rome-Ciampino, Rzeszów, Szczecin, Tenerife-South, Treviso, Vilnius, Warsaw-Modlin, Wrocław Seasonal: Almería, Bari, Biarritz, Bologna, Chania, Comiso, Girona, Grenoble, Ibiza, La Rochelle, Murcia, Palermo, Palma de Mallorca, Pisa, Porto, Reus, Rodez, Salzburg, Santander, Seville, Tallinn, Tours, Turin, Valencia, Vigo (begins 3 April 2016), Zadar	1
S7 Airlines	Seasonal: Moscow-Domodedovo	1
Scandinavian Airlines	Copenhagen, Oslo-Gardermoen, Stockholm-Arlanda	1
SmartWings operated by Travel Service Airlines	Seasonal charter: Lanzarote	1
SunExpress	Seasonal: Antalya (begins 19 May 2016) Seasonal charter: İzmir	1
Swiss International Air Lines	Geneva, Zürich	1
Thomson Airways	Charter Gran Canaria, Lanzarote Seasonal charter: Burgas, Cancún (begins 13 June 2016), Corfu, Faro, Heraklion, Ibiza, Innsbruck, Kos, Montego Bay (begins 12 June 2016), Palma de Mallorca, Rhodes, Sharm el-Sheikh (suspended), Tenerife-South, Toulouse, Turin, Zakynthos	1
Transavia France	Paris-Orly	1
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul-Atatürk	1
United Airlines	Newark, Washington-Dulles Seasonal: Chicago-O'Hare	2
Vueling	Barcelona	1
WestJet	Seasonal: St. John's, Toronto-Pearson	1
WOW air	Reykjavík-Keflavík	1

^1 Ethiopian Airlines has a fuel stop on its flights from Addis Ababa to Toronto-Pearson and Washington-Dulles via Dublin on outbound flights only, due to weight restrictions on departure from ADD. The airline has no rights to transport passengers solely between DUB and IAD or YYZ, and thus does not carry passengers from Dublin on these flights.

Cargo

Airlines	Destinations
Air France Cargo	Chicago-O'Hare, Paris-Charles de Gaulle
Bluebird Cargo	Reykjavík-Keflavik
DHL Aviation operated by EAT Leipzig	East Midlands, London-Luton
FedEx Express	Paris-Charles de Gaulle, London-Stansted
TNT Airways operated by Bluebird Cargo	Liège
UPS Airlines operated by Star Air (Maersk)	Cologne/Bonn, Shannon
West Atlantic	Coventry
Woodgate Aviation	East Midlands, Isle of Man

Statistics

Passenger numbers

Passenger numbers at Dublin Airport increased every year during the 10 years between 1998 and 2008, by an average of 10.2% per annum from around 11.6 million to over 23.4 million. Passenger numbers fell however during the subsequent two years to around 18.4 million in 2010, with a small increase to 18.7 million in 2011 and 19.1 million in 2012, then 2013 saw a significant increase of 5.6% to 20.2 million. In 2014, passenger numbers increased by almost 8% to over 21.7 million. Huge growth in passenger numbers has continued during 2015, with an extra 3.1 million passengers using the airport in the first 11 months of the year compared to the same period in 2014. The previous annual record of 23.46 million passengers (set in 2008) has been broken as of early December 2015, and the yearly total is expected to be approximately 25 million, making 2015 the busiest year in the airports history.

Dublin Airport Passenger Totals 1998–2014 (millions)

Updated: 17 January 2015.

Year	Passengers	Passengers Change YoY %
1998	11,641,100	–
1999	12,802,031	10.0
2000	13,843,528	08.1
2001	14,333,555	03.5
2002	15,084,667	05.2
2003	15,856,084	05.1
2004	17,138,373	08.1
2005	18,450,439	07.7
2006	21,196,382	14.9
2007	23,287,438	09.9
2008	23,466,711	00.8
2009	20,503,677	12.6
2010	18,431,064	10.1
2011	18,740,593	01.7
2012	19,099,649	01.9
2013	20,166,783	05.6
2014	21,712,173	07.7
Sources: 1998–2001 – Aer Rianta 2002–2005 – DAA 2006–2012 – DAA 2013–2014 – DAA

See also: List of the busiest airports in the Republic of Ireland by total passenger traffic

Busiest routes

As can be seen from the list below, the top three routes from Dublin are all to London airports. As of 2014 the Dublin–London route is one of the worlds busiest international air routes, with 640 weekly flights between the two cities.

50 busiest international routes at Dublin Airport (2014)

Rank	Airport	Passengers Handled	% Change 2013/14
1	London Heathrow	1,651,004	00.8
2	London Gatwick	994,056	01.6
3	London Stansted	809,271	011.5
4	Manchester	758,849	021.8
5	Paris Charles de Gaulle	666,280	05.5
6	Birmingham	665,380	018.1
7	New York JFK	600,960	02.4
8	Amsterdam	515,617	03.4
9	Frankfurt	507,220	00.6
10	Edinburgh	478,722	015.8
11	Malaga	435,245	01.1
12	Madrid	374,996	09.7
13	Faro	360,606	01.5
14	Barcelona	355,207	021.1
15	Bristol	332,081	014.2
16	London Luton	328,598	06.8
17	Chicago O'Hare	312,531	05
18	Boston	310,329	09.7
19	Abu Dhabi	301,822	018.3
20	Dubai	288,699	015.2
21	Liverpool	278,138	01.5
22	Copenhagen	270,027	07.3
23	Lanzarote	265,869	07.3
24	Brussels National	250,482	06.7
25	Berlin Schönefeld	244,861	05.4
26	London City	232,740	035.9
27	Munich	222,539	016.9
28	Glasgow International	212,273	050
29	Paris Beauvais	209,141	015.3
30	Leeds Bradford	200,935	06.7
31	Düsseldorf	199,751	01.9
32	Zürich	198,196	05.8
33	Toronto	195,431	0101.2
34	Newcastle	180,998	028.9
35	Budapest	179,632	010.1
36	Lisbon	179,021	057.7
37	Rome Fiumicino	172,442	01.1
38	Alicante	168,339	00.5
39	Nice	157,991	023.3
40	Prague	152,027	043.2
41	Brussels Charleroi	149,263	08.1
42	Milan Orio al Serio	149,246	011.6
43	Istanbul Atatürk	148,963	021
44	Rome Ciampino	148,942	018.3
45	New York – Newark	138,956	021.4
46	Tenerife South	138,126	05.9
47	Southampton	137,802	032.5
48	Kraków	134,036	010
49	Philadelphia	129,647	010.7
50	Eindhoven	126,954	022.3
Source: Central Statistics Office

Ground transport

Outside the airport

Dublin Airport is located just off the M1 and the M50 10 km (6.2 mi) north from the city centre and 2 km (1.2 mi) south of the town of Swords. The airport is approximately 210 kilometres (130 mi) away from both Limerick and Galway and 266 kilometres (165 mi) from Cork. Belfast is around 158 kilometres (98 mi) away. Until the Metro North rail link to Dublin city centre is completed (see below), the public transport options to the city are taxis, buses, and private transport. Passengers can however connect by bus or taxi to Dublin's railway stations.

Bus services

Dublin Airport is served by a large network of bus and coach routes, serving both the wider Dublin area and intercity links to the rest of Ireland. In Dublin city, Dublin Bus is the main provider of transport to and from the airport operating Airlink Express route 747 to the city centre terminus of Busáras and the railway stations of Dublin Connolly and Dublin Heuston. In addition, Dublin Bus runs local stopping services that serve such residential areas as Santry, Swords, Rathfarnham, Sutton, Malahide, Beaumont, Harold's Cross, Drumcondra and Portmarnock.

Aircoach offers a number of coach services from the Airport to the Dublin area, serving both the city centre and surrounding areas including Donnybrook, Leopardstown, Sandyford, Dalkey, Greystones. Bray, Blackrock, Dun Laoghaire and Sandymount amongst others. At a national level, Bus Éireann offers a large number of routes from Dublin Airport to destinations such as Galway, Wexford, Sligo, Donegal, Drogheda, Navan and Wicklow. Bus Éireann and Ulsterbus Goldline jointly offer cross-border bus services, namely X1/X2 to Belfast and 274/X33/X4 to Derry.

A number of private operators also run intercity services. Aircoach offers service to Cork and Belfast. Citylink and Gobus offer services to Galway while Eirebus and JJ Kavanagh operate regular services to Limerick, Kilkenny and Waterford. Wexfordbus connects the airport with Wexford.

Rail

Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) provide suburban and intercity railway services from Dublin Connolly and Dublin Heuston railway stations. There are direct regular bus services to both stations from the airport. Some city bus services serve Drumcondra suburban railway station, which is on the Connolly to Maynooth railway line while the 102 route connects Dublin Airport to Sutton DART station. Bus services to Busáras/Dublin Connolly and Dublin Heuston railway stations connect with the Luas Red Line.

Plans for rail link

For many years, it was expected that Iarnród Éireann, the state railway company, would extend the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) with a spur off the Dublin to Belfast line that would serve the airport and Swords. These plans were replaced with plans for an underground metro line, which would run from the city centre to Swords via the airport. The route for the line, Metro North, was announced on 19 October 2006 and was designed to connect with several other modes of transport. On 12 August 2011, it was announced that the Metro North plan would be deferred indefinitely due to a lack of resources to fund the project.

There were to be three stops in Dublin's city centre, allowing transfers to both Luas lines, and the proposed DART Underground. Another transfer would have been possible at Drumcondra. Beyond the airport, Metro North would have continued to Swords, where many airport workers live. There would have been a number of park and ride stops along the route. Journey time between the airport and St Stephen's Green would have been 18 minutes.

Dublin Airport City

In 2008, The Dublin Airport Authority announced plans for an ambitious development of the Dublin Airport area and surrounding environs. This ambitious project would develop a 350-acre (1.4 km²) land reserve situated to the east of Dublin Airport and will cost in the region of €4 billion. Of this 350 acres (1.4 km²), 90% is already owned by the Dublin Airport Authority, and they are confident that they will be able to purchase the remaining pockets. The development will be mainly high rise, and will be expected to be completed by 2028. There will be 600,000 m² (6,500,000 sq ft) of office space along with 40,000 m² (430,000 sq ft) of retail, hotel and conference facilities. It is expected that the journey time from office to airport will be in the region of 6 minutes.

Accidents and Incidents

• On 3 February 2002, a Delta Air Lines MD-11 ran off the runway upon landing. The incident was ascribed to a sudden gust of wind, with the aircraft receiving minor damage and a few minor injuries were reported.

See also

• Airport Police (Ireland)

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Dublin Airport Authority
• Current weather for EIDW at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for DUB at Aviation Safety Network