Dublin airport CEO Kenny Jacobs anticipates that liquids will be allowed back in bags during scanning in 2025. All of the scanners in T2 have been converted to the c3 scanners which allow laptops be left in the bags and will allow liquids be left in the bags when EU regulations allow, and half of the scanners in Terminal 1.
Last year, 12 new food and beverage outlets were launched, with plans to add 15 more this year, including an Irish market outlet inspired by Cork’s English market.
Lounge capacity at Dublin Airport will triple between this year and next, accommodating demands from carriers like Aer Lingus and Eastern airlines.
Jacobs is advocating for the removal of passenger caps and regulatory approvals from Fingal Council to expand airport capacity to accommodate up to 40 million passengers.
He told the Travel Talks forum at RDS Holiday World that the airport should be ready and should be ahead in terms of growth. Ultimately, we want to build more facilities and be ready for the future
Last year, we opened 12 new food and beverage outlets; this year, we’re opening 15 more food and beverage outlets. We are looking for more Irish character. We’re heading towards being an airport for 40 million, then 50 and 60 million. We need a lot more lunge capacity.
We are going to treble lounge capacity between this year and next year. More lounges in T2 and I would even love to see a Ryanair lounge in T1. The original terminal building we are planning to convert at least half of that into high-end lounges.
So we will have better lounges, better retail, healthier and more interesting food, everything from to a proper Italian ice cream, and much more variety. We are opening a new outlet inT2 called the Irish market which will be modelled on the English market in Cork.
We want to celebrate Irish food. Dublin airport is the biggest seller of Tayto in the world, the biggest whiskey shop in the world. We want to have an airport that was fun and friendly and it has that unique Irish character.
Aer Lingus will be looking for extra lounge capacity, if I was them I would be looking for extra lounge capacity. The platinum lunge will treble in capacity. We will be going upstairs with our platinum lounge. Eastern carriers like Qatar and Emirates are proud of their brands and want their lounges to stand out. If I was them, I would be looking for my own lounge.
We’re still have 20,000 car park spaces. The reopening of the former Quickpark will add 6,500 spaces in April. We are looking forward to that and to the competition. There has not been drama at Dublin airport recently.
In terms of sustainability, we are improving. Planning is in our hands, and sometimes you have to meet conditions to expand. We want to build more piers and be ready for the future. Our airports should be ready and ahead. We’re waiting for approval on our applications to remove the current restrictions and expand our capacity. A third of the passengers who come on the bus. If y9ou are using the car park and you are travelling on Easter week or travelling in July and August, just book early. Some people think you are an airport and I have a right to a car park space. You don’t. We have 20,000 car park spaces and 35 million passengers. On average we have 1.5 times more spaces than is normal at European airports. There are a lot of spaces. Please come on the bus, if not please book early.
The new government have it in their programme for government to remove the cap. I have already written to the new minister to please engage in that conversation with ourselves and Fingal to resolve it quickly. We are 14 months waiting for Fingal Council to approve our application to go to 40 million passengers. Then we go to Bord Pleanala. This summer, a stay has been put on the cap by the high court.
Airlines like Aer Lingus and Ryanair and others have announced additional slots. We will grow by a million passengers in 2025, but we need to get the cap removed because ultimately, there is airline demand out there for 38 million. We want to build more piers in terminal 1 and terminal 2 and we want Dublin airport to be ready for Ireland’s future.
Strategic infrastructure needs to be reclassified into a new sector, as the UK has done, and then we need to go back and search for information.
We need to move faster, but I think the first step is an option, then for the station, and then planning. We need to get things moving more efficiently. A third of the passengers come to Dublin by taxi or car. We need to make things more consistent. The biggest thing I’ve observed in my time is consistency. We need to keep standards high, get people through security efficiently, get shops open, and have consistent operations.
Asked by moderator Eoghan Corry what he want to change at Dublin airport when he took over as CEO, Kenny Jacobs shared: everything, everything at the airports is important for the look, including the toilets. Everything was different, like something you come across in Africa. Now people from anywhere in the world see what’s been achieved over the last 18 months.
