Dublin Airport

Dublin Airport is situated just north of Dublin City and is busiest airport in Ireland with over 18.4 million passengers travelling through the airport in 2005, an increase of 8% from 2004. In 2006 it is predicted that 21 million people will travel through Dublin Airport. In June 2006 2 million passengers passed through Dublin Airport, the first time that the passenger numbers in a single month exceeded 2 million.

Construction of Dublin Airport began in 1937 after the establishment of Aer Lingus by the Irish Government in 1936 and by 1947 the construction of three concrete runways. In 1972 the advent of wide bodied aircraft meant numbers in Dublin Airport jumped to 5 million a year. During the 1980s the numbers travelling through the airport continued to increase and several extensions to the airport were constructed.

With the advent of low fare air travel and the celtic tiger, the numbers or people travelling by air to destinations in Europe grew significantly. For the first time the people in Ireland had money in their back pocket, and air travel in Ireland boomed as a result.

Today Dublin Airport is an airport under pressure. Extensions to the airport did not keep pace with the massive increases in passengers beyond the 1980s. Talks are taking place about building a new terminal (Pier D) and an upgraded runway which would accommodate future long range super planes such as the A380.

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