Between 2006 and the end of 2010, the DAA invested more than €1.2 billion in a major infrastructure development programme, the Transforming Dublin Programme, at Dublin Airport.
About half of this investment programme related to the construction of a new passenger terminal T2 and its associated facilities, while we also invested heavily in additional facilities such as a new boarding gate area known as Pier D, additional aircraft parking stands and many other infrastructural improvements.
The investment programme was drawn up following the Irish Government’s decision in mid-2005 that the company should invest in the delivery of significant new passenger and aviation facilities at Dublin Airport in part to address the congestion issues that had arisen at the airport due to strong traffic growth over the previous decade.
Dublin Airport is the gateway for 75% of people entering and exiting the Republic of Ireland and for over 60% of those arriving and departing the entire island and appropriate facilities were required for the country’s main airport.
The investment programme has delivered a major improvement in passenger facilities and created additional capacity that will be in use for many years to come.
The development programme was funded by a combination of passenger charges, the DAA’s commercial revenues, and borrowings. The DAA is owned by the Irish State but is a fully commercial organisation and receives no State support to fund its operations or capital investments.
In 2007, the Transforming Programme delivered a new boarding gate facility, Pier D, which contains gates numbered from 100-121 and a new check-in zone. And in May 2009, a new extension opened in Terminal 1.
More than €150 million was also invested in new and improved roads at the airport and on new networks for power, communications, and water.
We built more than 80 acres of new aircraft parking stands and taxiways, helping to improve the efficiency of the airport for our airline customers.
The centrepiece of the overall programme was the construction of a new passenger terminal. Work on Terminal 2 started in October 2007 and the new facility – capable of handling up to 15 million passengers annually – was opened in November 2010.
T2 is now home to Aer Lingus, American Airlines, Etihad Airways, Continental Airlines, Delta and US Airways.
A new facility within the terminal offers full US Preclearance facilities to passengers travelling to the USA. This service allows US bound passengers to undertake all immigration, customs and agriculture inspections in Dublin prior to their departure.