Ryanair objects to Aer Rianta pier plan

Ryanair has objected to a planning application by Aer Rianta for a new €70 million, 20,000 sq metre pier at Dublin Airport which is intended for use by low-cost carriers.

According to the airline's chief executive, Mr Michael O'Leary, if the proposed new Pier D goes ahead, it will seriously damage the prospect of a second terminal being built at the airport.

He told The Irish Times last night that he was determined to fight the proposal and would take the case to the High Court if necessary.

The no-frills airline claims the proposed location of the new facility, between the two runways, is the obvious choice for a second terminal. Ryanair also says the project is too expensive and will provide a net gain of only nine contact stands for planes and not 12 as Aer Rianta claims.

The lack of extra check-in areas and other infrastructure would put further pressure on already over- burdened facilities at the airport, said Mr O'Leary. "We are not trying to block a new facility," he said. "But what is needed is an efficient facility with proper infrastructure and this is not it. It's a crazy proposal."

Ryanair lodged its objection to the project with Fingal County Council planners on Tuesday.

The new Aer Rianta two-storey pier will provide 12 contact stands for planes where passengers can alight and disembark. However, three stands currently on the site will be lost with the construction of the new facility.

The two-storey building will be connected to the main airport building by an above-ground glass tunnel. As well as housing the contact stands, it will also feature retail space and areas for immigration, catering, airport utilities and other uses. The entire project will be 20,200 sq metres.

If planning permission is granted, Aer Rianta says the pier will be operational in the first half of 2004. In its planning application, it states the proposal is in keeping with a Government directive to provide a new facility for low-cost carriers at the airport. It also says the need for the pier has, in the main part, been created by the extra passengers being carried by such airlines. It said the new pier would be built in conjunction with plans for a second terminal and the completion of a "master plan" blueprint for the airport.

More than 200 jobs will be created at the airport if the project goes ahead and an additional 400 jobs will be created for the 16-month period that the pier is under construction.

Planning permission was originally granted for Pier D in 1998. But the project did not go ahead, primarily due to financial constraints, according to Aer Rianta. However, the project in its current guise is in a different location and is also a two-storey structure rather than single storey as proposed in the 1998 plan.

A spokesman for Aer Rianta said the extra level had been added because, since the first planning permission was granted, heightened security and immigration regulations stipulated that passengers going to and coming from aircraft must be segregated.

The Aer Rianta proposal has also met objections from two other parties. FLS Aerospace, which owns the former TEAM maintenance business, has not objected to the project in principle but claims the proposal in its current form will seriously affect its business.

The aircraft maintenance company claims its access to other areas of the airport will be curtailed to such an extent that it might threaten its continued operation at Dublin Airport.

"We are anxious that, if this plan goes ahead, will we still have a business to run after it all?" asked an FLS spokeswoman.

The Portmarnock Community Association has also lodged an objection to the project on the basis that it will add to the levels of air and noise pollution currently being experienced by communities on the flight paths into and out of the airport.