Business chiefs back higher airport charges
The employers group IBEC today backed the use of higher passenger charges to pay for the expansion of Dublin Airport.
The Dublin Airport Authority is planning to build a new 50,000 square metre passenger terminal which would cost up to €200m and be able to handle 15 million passengers a year.
The Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) said it supported the proposals to increase passenger charges from €5 to €7.50 to pay for the new terminal.
“While this represents a significant increase on current levels, it is necessary to deliver an efficient facility operating to the highest international standards now expected by users. It is also the case that airport charges have not risen in real terms at Dublin Airport since the late 1980s,” said its director of enterprise Brendan Butler.
He said IBEC members believed that the congested conditions of Dublin Airport, which dealt with 17 million passengers last year, was creating a negative image of the country.
“As the first point of contact for approximately 70% of business travellers to this country the airport should present a positive and modern image reflecting the success of the economy. In reality the opposite is the case.”
The new terminal is the main part of a €1.2bn, 10-year Framework Development Programme aimed at increasing the airport’s operational capacity to more than 30 million passengers a year.
