[Article] Airport authority facing resistance over runway

Victor

http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/topstories/4207992?view=Eircomnet

Residents to fight plans for new runway at Dublin Airport
From:ireland.com
Wednesday, 13th October, 2004

Residents groups in north Dublin are to fight plans to build a €130-million runway at Dublin Airport, writes Martin Wall

The Dublin Airport Authority announced yesterday that it intended to seek planning permission by the end of the year for a new 3,110-metre runway to be commissioned by 2010. It will be located 1.7 km north of and parallel to the airport's existing main runway.

The director of Dublin Airport, Mr Robert Hilliard, told The Irish Times yesterday that the proposed runway was required to cater for the predicted growth in passenger numbers. "Already this year we are forecast to handle 17.1 million passengers and that is going to rise to 30 million over the next 15 years."

He maintained that within the next five or six years the demand for runway space will exceed the existing capacity at the airport, leading to aircraft being unable to land and take off on time.

However, residents and politicians in the north Dublin area have expressed concern at the planned development.

Ryanair also criticised the proposal and said that Stansted Airport in London, which handles 19 million passengers annually, and Gatwick Airport, which caters for 30 million people, each had only one runway.

A residents' group in Portmarnock said the development was "totally unnecessary" and promised to fight the application for planning permission when it came before Fingal County Council. The group is concerned about noise and chemical pollution from low-flying aircraft.

Local politicians want the Government to consider developing airport facilities elsewhere in the country. The Labour Party TD for Dublin North, Mr Seán Ryan, urged the Government to look at the feasibility of developing a new airport in south Leinster or the midlands.

Mr Jim Glennon TD (FF) said the Air Corps base in Gormanston, Co Meath - adjacent to the M1 motorway and the Dublin/Belfast rail line - should be developed to handle smaller aircraft.

Ms Angela Lawton, a committee member of Uproar - a group in Portmarnock opposing the runway development - said that consideration should be given to opening the military airfield at Baldonnel in west Dublin to civilian aircraft.

The secretary of the Portmarnock Community Association, Mr Brian Byrne, said the priority should be to maximise the use of the three existing runways at Dublin Airport, while the Government could also consider developing new airport facilities in areas such as Tullamore or Carlow which had good rail links to Dublin.

http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/breaking/4207870?view=Eircomnet

Airport authority facing resistance over runway
From:ireland.com
Wednesday, 13th October, 2004

Pilots and north Dublin residents groups have vowed to fight plans to open a new €130 million runway at Dublin Airport. Pilots claim the runway will be too small, while residents deem it "unnecessary".

The Dublin Airport Authority announced plans yesterday that it was to seek planning permission for the runway which it is said will increase jobs created by the airport by up to 30 per cent.

Pilots are concerned about the plans for the runway but because they believe it will not be big enough to accommodate modern aircraft.

A spokesperson for the Irish Airline Pilot's Association told RTE that the runway was going to be too short and narrow to deal with the new breed of passenger plane, due to be in use by 2006.

Captain Evan Cullen said this morning that building this runway, as now planned, is akin to creating a new Red Cow roundabout, as it will be almost obsolete by the time it is completed.

"We believe an additional 7.5 metres of shoulder area should be provided on both sides of the runway, for protection against engine jet blasts and support for rescue and fire fighting vehicle equipment," said Captain Cullen.

"The runway that is being proposed won't serve the needs of the 21st Century. The point is, we are starting from a green fields site, we should be building a runway for the 21st Century, for 21st Century aircraft, in a 21st Century economy."

Responding to Captain Cullen's comments, Dublin Airport Director Mr Robert Hilliard said that the runway will serve Irish needs.

"The runway will be wide enough to accommodate these new large aircraft. They already exist....so we can already handle them as they are," said Mr Hilliard.

"We are going to ask for 60 metre wide runway, which is in fact what the international governing body suggests you should have for a Code F aeroplane."

A Portmarnock residents group has described the decision as "totally unnecessary" and said it will lobby Fingal County Council to refuse permission.

The Dublin Airport Authority claims that a new runway is essential to deal with the imminent rise in passengers passing through the airport over the coming years.

Mr Hilliard said it will lead to the creation of thousands of new jobs.

"This is a project of major local and national importance," he said.

It is estimated that the 120 companies based at Dublin Airport support some 12,000 jobs on the 3,000-acre site and a total of 39,000 nationally. Dublin Airport-related economic activity accounts for 1.3 per cent of GNP per annum, according to the authority.

Mr Hilliard said the proposed new runway would facilitate additional aircraft and passenger traffic and support "a significant increase in overall employment and annual income".

The airport authority is "acutely aware" of the impact development will have on the local area and that it was the company's social responsibility not only to provide transport in and out of the area but also to balance that in terms of what it does to local communities, Mr Hilliard added.

"We are very mindful of our responsibility to local communities on air quality, water quality and so on," he said.

It is projected that some 17.1 million passengers will use Dublin Airport this year, an increase of 1.2 million on 2003.

The Environmental Impact Assessment information is on display at the Great Southern Hotel at Dublin Airport until Friday.