Dublin airport’s 32m passenger cap was designated as “not a development issue” by an Bórd Pleanála inspection four years ago, clearing the way to a lifting of the cap by ministerial order.
In response to Dublin Airport’s planning submission, an Bord Pleanála has concluded that use of the airport in excess of 32m passengers is NOT a planning issue.
Conor McGrath’s Inspector’s Report ABP-305458-19 into Dublin Airport for An Bord Pleanála in January 2020 ruled:
- Use of the airport for passenger movements is a permitted use;
- Use of the “airport” in excess of 32m passengers per annum does not entail the carrying out of works or the making of any material change in the use of any structure or land,
Now therefore An Bord Pleanála, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by section 5 (4) of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, hereby decides that:
- Use of the “airport” in excess of 32m passengers per annum is not development, irrespective of the manner of calculation passenger numbers
- There is no current limit on passenger numbers per annum using the airport. Use of the “airport” in excess of 32m passengers per annum does not entail the carrying out of works or the making of any material change in the use of any structure or land, and is not therefore development. There is no requirement therefore to make a determination on the manner of counting of passengers in this case.
The previous Local Area Plan devised for the airport by Fingal council from 2020 says: Identified issues which require remedy as part of the LAP include aircraft parking stands, terminal processing capacity and the need to enhance surface access links to provide greater capacity and to meet projected demand. These matters are most effectively dealt with as policy within the LAP. Transfer passengers are those who make a connecting flight at Dublin Airport to reach their destination. A transfer passenger will be counted twice on each trip.
Fingal County Council Draft Dublin Airport Local Area Plan 2020-2026 says: A key national strategic policy is for Dublin Airport to be developed as a secondary hub. This requires a sufficient level of airport infrastructure, including quality terminal facilities, runway capacity and surface access. The Council must also achieve a balance between promoting the potential of the aviation sector and safeguarding the primary operational role of Dublin Airport as the Country’s main international airport. There is, however, sufficient space within the existing terminal infrastructure of T1 and T2 to accommodate short to medium term growth to 40mppa subject to the reconfiguration of different parts of the terminal processing areas to alleviate bottlenecks (arrival, departure processing facilities, immigration, baggage reclaim and US pre-clearance facilities). The DTTAS Review recognises that this kind of incremental expansion of T1 and T2 throughput is desirable to relieve the capacity issues identified in the short to medium term.
