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61-577: Midlands Gateway , also known as Lake-Counties Gateway , is an area centered between the Irish airports of Dublin , Shannon , and Knock . The principal urban centres in the Midlands Gateway include Athlone , Tullamore and Mullingar . The background to the Midlands Gateway project was the Irish government's National Spatial Strategy , launched in 2002. The counties covered in the plan include County Offaly and County Westmeath . The strategy
122-618: A cocktail bar from which the patron could watch the arrival and departure of aircraft. A separate premises named the Fáilte Bar existed in the arrivals building. 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 ;
183-543: A contingent tower in case of emergency. After a delay of several years due to the global financial crisis and predictions of falling consumer demand, it was announced in April 2016 that a new runway would start construction in 2017 and to be completed by 2021. On 8 October 2020, the existing runway 10/28 was redesignated as 10R/28L in anticipation of the new runway becoming 10L/28R. The new runway measuring 3,110 m (10,203 ft) opened on 24 August 2022 parallel to
244-459: A significant long-haul network focused on North America and the Middle East . It serves as a hub for Ireland's flag carrier Aer Lingus , and is the home base for Europe's largest low-cost carrier Ryanair . British airline TUI Airways also operates a base at the airport. United States border preclearance services are available at the airport for U.S.-bound passengers. Shannon Airport
305-637: A team of architects that also included Kevin Barry, Daithí Hanley, Charles Aliaga Kelly, Dermot O'Toole and Harry Robson. The terminal building opened in early 1941, with its design heavily influenced by the tiered structure of the luxury ocean liners of the time. The terminal was awarded the Triennial Gold Medal of the Royal Hibernian Institute of Architects in 1942 and is today a listed building. Due to World War II , which
366-485: A third Boeing 747 was delivered later that decade. To cope with this, a new £10 million passenger terminal capable of handling six million passengers per year, which became known as Terminal 1, was opened in June 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. On 30 November 1975, one person
427-406: Is a key international gateway for overseas visitors to Northern Ireland, whose largest airport is less than a quarter the size of Dublin in terms of passenger numbers. The current Terminal 1 building opened in 1972 was 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
488-446: Is designed to create an integrated linked Gateway comprising Athlone , Tullamore and Mullingar together with the other surrounding towns in the region with the objective of developing an "internationally competitive Gateway". The Irish government strategy, combined with the associated councils has been formulated with the intention of ensuring the availability of choice in residential, retail, leisure and tourist facilities based on
549-486: Is most often used in the evening, depending on airport construction. In the day, 16/34 is generally used as a taxiway for aircraft utilizing runway 10R/28L. The first flight on the new runway was Ryanair flight FR1964 to Eindhoven at 11:00 UTC on 24 August 2022. A number of infrastructure additions and improvements are planned for the airport in the coming years, including two new passenger piers, expanded aircraft parking and apron facilities, an airside tunnel which will link
610-616: Is poor rail connection within the gateway. In addition, the Gateway is not directly served by an inland port and, of critical importance, is not currently within one hour drive time of an international airport. There is poor road linkage between the Gateways towns, with limited rail and bus service links. If developed as proposed, the road development proposals announced in the Transport 21 Government Proposal (November 2005) would mean that
671-657: Is the only other airport in Europe to offer this facility. The airport began as a wartime aerodrome located in the townland of Collinstown , Fingal . In 1917, during World War I , Collinstown was selected as the base for the British Royal Flying Corps . By April 1918, when the Flying Corps was renamed the Royal Air Force , Collinstown Aerodrome was more than 20% complete. Construction
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#1732791082405732-649: 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 Office of the Revenue Commissioners provide a customs service to both passenger and cargo terminals, while
793-659: The Department of Agriculture also has a presence in the airport. Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service performs immigration checks on all international passengers arriving at the airport. The Gardaí also have a small sub-station located beside the old terminal. In 2016 it was confirmed that Garda Armed Support Units (ASU) would be deployed overtly to patrol Dublin Airport and Dublin Port full-time on foot inside terminal buildings and via vehicles outside and surrounding
854-583: The Garda Síochana to introduce a counter-drone system and for the government to increase sentences for offenders. Ryanair also called for the government to take immediate action. One man was arrested later in February 2023, and was charged under the Air Navigation and Transport Act. As of April 2024, two men had been charged and due to be tried, separately, for allegedly flying drones near
915-889: The United Arab Emirates ). Those traveling on nonstop flights to the United States complete immigration and customs procedures in Dublin prior to their departure, and are treated as domestic passengers on arrival. In October 2004, Aer Rianta (which is the Irish for 'Air Ways' or 'Air Tracks') was renamed Dublin Airport Authority plc, a result of 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
976-452: 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. 2019 was the airport's busiest year, recording 32.9 million passengers - an increase in passenger numbers by 4% during
1037-683: 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
1098-408: The Gateway does not have direct access to complete Inter-Urban Motorways/Dual-Carriageways, both internally and externally. The Gateway, and in particular the three principal Gateway towns of Athlone , Tullamore and Mullingar , is served by main line inter-urban rail and bus networks, with direct access to urban centres of Dublin , Galway and Sligo , and limited local bus services. However, there
1159-474: 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 DAA. The name change announced in July 2013 took effect on 6 November 2014. As the largest gateway to Ireland, over 25 million passengers travelled through the airport in 2015, a 15% increase over the previous year. The main contributors to
1220-456: The Irish government had insisted that 50% of all transatlantic flights between Ireland and the United States must pass through Shannon Airport. Dublin Airport is one of only two airports in Europe, and three outside the Americas, with United States border preclearance services for US-bound passengers (the other airports are Ireland's Shannon Airport and Abu Dhabi International Airport in
1281-606: 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
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#17327910824051342-429: The Midlands Gateway would attain improved access to Galway, Dublin and Sligo, and therefore also to ports and airports. The plan also identified a need to "considerably improve the road infrastructure within and adjacent to the Gateway", as the "existing status is significantly insufficient". A report by Indecon concluded that the "scale of the economic challenges facing the Midlands Gateway is very large". The analysis in
1403-726: The Strategic development Framework for the Midlands Gateway report highlighted the following challenges: Dublin Airport Dublin Airport ( Irish : Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath ) ( IATA : DUB , ICAO : EIDW ) is an international airport serving Dublin , Ireland . It is operated by DAA (formerly Dublin Airport Authority). The airport is located in Collinstown , 7 km (4.3 mi) north of Dublin, and 3 km (1.9 mi) south of
1464-448: 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 identified 16 destinations that it would like to serve directly from Dublin. 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
1525-517: 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 (the " Shannon stopover "), Kerry Airport , Galway Airport , Ireland West Airport , Waterford Airport , Sligo Airport and City of Derry Airport . Aer Lingus Commuter has since been re-absorbed into
1586-447: 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 . By the mid-1950s, it was clear that the original terminal building was too small to cope with growing passenger numbers. A new North Terminal was opened in June 1959. Originally, the plan was that North Terminal would handle all US and European flights, but instead, it became
1647-596: The airport. As of August 2019, there are services to 31 intercontinental destinations from Dublin Airport (not including Anatolia ). In 2007, Etihad Airways began operating between Dublin Airport and Abu Dhabi, and increased its capacity to 14 weekly flights in March 2010. In addition, Emirates has served Dublin from Dubai since January 2012. A total of 22 cities in North America are connected directly to Dublin Airport by seven airlines. In 2015, Ethiopian Airlines began serving Dublin from Addis Ababa, thus inaugurating
1708-418: The arrivals terminal for all Dublin Airport passengers, while the original passenger terminal was used for departures. During the 1960s, the number of scheduled carriers continued to grow. 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 regularly. In the late 1960s new departure gate piers were added close to
1769-660: The busiest airports in the Republic of Ireland The following tables show 2008 to 2022 passenger traffic statistics for all airports in the Republic of Ireland , ranked by total passenger traffic each year. The data also shows available total aircraft movements at each airport based on statistics published by the Irish Aviation Authority . Dublin Airport is the largest airport in Ireland, and in 2018
1830-583: The country, together with an increase in inward tourism and a surge in demand for foreign holidays and city breaks from the Irish . 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
1891-443: The crisis began. On several separate days in early 2023, reports of drone sightings at the airport led to the delay and cancellation of several flights. On 4 February 2023, for example, flights were disrupted for 45 minutes after two confirmed drone sightings. And, on 6 February 2023, flights were impacted for approximately 40 minutes. As it is illegal to operate a drone within 5 kilometers of an Irish airfield, DAA called for
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1952-409: The design of Terminal 2 provisions were made for an expanded check in hall and additional pier (Pier F) to cater for future growth. Terminal 2 is currently home to IAG airlines Aer Lingus , British Airways , Iberia Express and Vueling , and U.S. carriers American Airlines , Delta Air Lines , JetBlue and United Airlines . Emirates also operates from the terminal. DAA has its own branch of
2013-610: The economic driving force for the development of the Midlands region. In order to ensure that the vision for the Midlands Gateway is achieved, a number of partners were identified as of importance to the Midlands gateway's success. These included a number of Government departments, the Industrial Development Authority (Ireland), National Roads Authority NRA, Higher Education Authority (HEA), Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and local agencies. Currently,
2074-458: 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 . FitzGerald, who had designed an airport terminal as part of his college studies, led
2135-531: The existing runway 10R/28L, which opened (as runway 10/28) in 1989. Planning permission for the runway was originally granted in August 2007, with 31 planning conditions attached. The new runway runs parallel to the north of runway 10R/28L and allows the airport to accommodate 30 million passengers annually, at a length of 3,110 m (10,203 ft). In March 2009 the DAA announced in a proposal for consultation that
2196-451: The first European flights to Dublin with a service to Amsterdam . Three new concrete runways were completed in 1948, and in 1950 - after ten years in operation - the airport had welcomed a total of 920,000 passengers. 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
2257-450: The first direct air link between Ireland and Sub-Saharan Africa . In 2017, Qatar Airways commenced a daily service to Dublin Airport from Doha. The Government of Ireland, owner of Dublin Airport, and the Dublin Airport Authority, its operator, have long sought to connect Dublin with East Asia by direct air service. Their plans were realized in 2018 when Cathay Pacific launched 4 weekly direct flights between Dublin and Hong Kong . This
2318-855: 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
2379-558: The former runways. In 1936, the Executive Council of the Irish Free State established a new civil airline — Aer Lingus — which began operating from Casement Aerodrome , at Baldonnel . A decision was made that a civil airport should replace Baldonnel as Dublin's airport. The Collinstown site was chosen and extended into the neighbouring townlands of Rock and Corballis. Work on the new airport began in 1937. By
2440-417: The growth in traffic in 2015 were the 23 new routes launched during the year and extra capacity on 40 existing services. Both long-haul and short-haul traffic increased by 15% in 2015. A record 8.9 million people travelled between Dublin Airport and Britain during 2015, which was a 14% increase on the previous year. Dublin Airport also welcomes more than one million passengers per annum from Northern Ireland and
2501-542: 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
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2562-480: 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 cost in the region of €320 million. The airport also has invested heavily in extending aprons and creating rapid exit taxiways to derive maximum efficiency from the existing main runway. Runway 16/34
2623-593: The old terminal to cope with larger aircraft. These piers would subsequently be connected to Terminal 1. During 1969, the airport handled 1,737,151 passengers. In his 1969 book Irish Pubs of Character , Roy Bulson describes the restaurant in Dublin airport as "one of the best airport restaurants in Europe" which served a table d'hôte lunch from noon until 3 pm, and hosted regular Saturday night dinner dances from October until April which had become very popular by that point. The airport bar, The Shamrock Lounge , operated from 7 am until 10:30 pm and included
2684-538: 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. 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
2745-530: The perimeter to counter the rising threat of terrorist attacks in Europe. The decision was made as a direct result of the 2016 Brussels bombings in Belgium. Aer Lingus, Ryanair, CityJet , Eirtech and Dublin Aerospace have aircraft maintenance hangars and facilities at Dublin Airport. Our Lady Queen of Heaven, a Catholic church built in 1964, is in the airport. The construction of a new control complex
2806-488: The principles of quality of life and environmental enhancement. The background to the Midlands Gateway project is the Irish government's National Spatial Strategy , which was launched in 2002 with the objective of engendering a "more balanced approach to regional development across the State". The purpose of this strategic framework is to focus more directly on the role of the Midlands Gateway within this strategy in acting as
2867-474: 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, with 5.5 million passengers in 1991. 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
2928-543: The ten accession states that joined the European Union in 2004 . In 2007 the then shortest runway, 11/29, was closed and converted to an aircraft storage area. This runway would subsequently be demolished for the construction of a second long runway parallel to 10/28. 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
2989-650: The terminal area with remote stands and an expanded United States border preclearance facility. Developers have proposed the development of a new terminal to the west of the existing terminal campus. The land owners and DAA have to date been unable to come to an agreement on the development of the land and discussions are ongoing. The following airlines offer regular scheduled and charter flights at Dublin Airport: The following airlines operate scheduled cargo services at Dublin Airport: List of
3050-465: The town of Swords . In 2019, 32.9 million passengers passed through the airport, making it the airport's busiest year on record. It is the 13th busiest airport in Europe , and is the busiest of Ireland's airports by total passenger traffic ; it also has the largest traffic levels on the island of Ireland , followed by Belfast International Airport . The airport has an extensive short and medium haul network, served by an array of carriers, as well as
3111-664: The year. Long-haul passenger numbers increased by 4% to almost 5.2 million, while Short-haul traffic increased by 5% to 27.7 million. In August 2019, Dublin Airport was chosen for the Special Achievement in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) award for its use of mapping software from ESRI Ireland. Due to the pandemic and its impact, the airport lost 115 routes, as in January 2021, it scheduled flights to just 85 cities, down from 200 before
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#17327910824053172-625: Was completed in 1919 when the Irish War of Independence broke out. On 20 March 1919, a group of 30 Irish Volunteers , including five employed by the RAF, stole 75 rifles and 5,000 rounds of ammunition from the base. As Collinstown Camp , the site was used for internment of Irish republicans. At the end of 1922, the land and buildings at Collinstown were transferred to the Irish Free State . The airfield fell into disrepair and grass grew on
3233-400: Was designed by Pascall+Watson architects and the total cost was €600 million. Aer Lingus is the main carrier operating at Terminal 2 and since its opening have developed a hub at Dublin primarily for traffic traveling between Europe and the United States. Terminal 2 is now the transatlantic gateway for flights to the United States as it features a US pre-clearance immigration facility which
3294-481: Was followed by services to Beijing-Capital (via Edinburgh) and Shenzhen (nonstop), launched by Hainan Airlines in June 2018 and January 2019, respectively. In August 2019, however, Hainan Airlines withdrew from Dublin entirely. In September, due to the ongoing political unrest in Hong Kong , Cathay Pacific restricted its previously year-round Hong Kong route to the summer season only. In the mid twentieth century,
3355-504: Was killed and eight others were injured when the airport was bombed by the Ulster Defence Association . 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
3416-442: Was known as The Emergency in Ireland, services were severely restricted at Dublin Airport until late 1945. The only international scheduled routes operated during this time were by Aer Lingus to Liverpool (and for a period to Manchester 's Barton Aerodrome ). The end of the war meant the beginning of a major expansion in services at the airport. Aer Lingus resumed its London service to Croydon in November 1945. In 1947, KLM started
3477-521: 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,
3538-626: 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 airlines except Aer Lingus, American Airlines, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, Emirates, Iberia Express, JetBlue, United Airlines and Vueling. Terminal 2 is a 75,000 m (810,000 sq ft) terminal and pier (Pier E) which provides aircraft parking for 27 narrow body aircraft through 25 departure gates and 16 immigration desks which can handle up to 15 million passengers annually. The project
3599-480: Was previously housed in Terminal 1. Construction of Terminal 2 began on 1 October 2007, and it was officially opened on 19 November 2010 by the then Taoiseach Brian Cowen T.D. The intended purpose of Terminal 2 was to house all long-haul carriers in addition to Aer Lingus; however significant growth in US traffic has resulted in most long haul carriers flying outside the United States remaining in Terminal 1. During
3660-522: Was required, as the location, height and visibility of the existing tower would be inadequate to operate the planned 10L/28R Runway. The new complex opened on 15 June 2022. At nearly 87 metres (285 ft) high, it is the tallest inhabited structure in Ireland. It has space for twelve operators as opposed to the five of the previous tower and a 360 degree view of the Airport and its surroundings. The new complex will be ideal for simultaneous operation of 10R/28L and 10L/28R. The old control complex will become
3721-551: Was the 13th busiest airport in Europe . Ireland has four main airports: Cork , Dublin , Shannon and Knock . There are also smaller regional airports at Donegal , Kerry , Galway , Sligo and Waterford . The latter three, as of July 2019, do not have any scheduled flights. Many airlines serve Ireland with Aer Lingus , Aer Lingus Regional and Ryanair having a significant presence at Irish airports. North American airlines serving Ireland include Air Canada , American Airlines , Delta Air Lines and United Airlines . Ireland
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