And it’s hoping the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) will allow passenger charges to rise substantially to help pay for it.
Dublin Airport is proposing that an average base price cap of €12.86 per passenger be introduced during that five-year period to fund the infrastructure development.
“Recent infrastructure failures across Europe from Heathrow’s power outage to the Collins Aerospace cyber-attack affecting Dublin directly, demonstrate the risks facing airport infrastructure and the opportunity cost of failing to build resilience,” Dublin Airport has warned.
“Charges for the 2027–31 period must therefore be at the level required to ensure the safe, resilient, and high-quality operations that passengers, airlines, and the Irish economy depend upon,” it adds.
The DAA’s deputy chief executive, Nick Cole, has told the IAA in a submission that “the stakes are high”.
“Connectivity is not a luxury for Ireland – it is a lifeline,” he said. “Dublin Airport must remain a resilient, modern, sustainable and well-funded gateway befitting a country with global ambition.”
The €12.86 average base price cap being proposed by Dublin Airport for the 2027-2031 period is much higher than the average base real price cap of €7.59 that’s in force for the 2023 to 2026 period. For 2023, the price cap was €8.46 per passenger. In 2024, it was €9.54.
Its latest submission to the IAA proposes a base price cap of €11.14 for 2027, rising incrementally to €14.99 per passenger in 2031.
For 2024, Dublin Airport had sought a proposed price cap of €16.23 per passenger.
“It would have ranked in the top quartile of airports with the highest aeronautical charges per passenger, higher than London Gatwick and just below Amsterdam Airport Schiphol,” noted the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) in a report last year.
It added: “All else equal, it would have ranked as an outlier in terms of profitability and return on capital.”
The IAA is currently in the process of determining the passenger charges that Dublin Airport will be able to levy between 2027 and 2031. That process is typically contentious, with Dublin Airport and the airlines usually at odds over how much should be charged.
As part of that process, Dublin Airport provides its forecasts for the period of required revenues, proposed price caps and its capital investment plan.
In its submission, Dublin Airport has said that unconstrained demand at the gateway will reach about 44 million passengers a year by 2031.
“While service quality performance remains strong, a range of capacity constraints, asset condition risks and resilience challenges are emerging across terminals, piers, gates, stands, utilities and surface access, which, if not addressed, will increasingly limit operational performance and growth,” it has told the IAA in its submission.
Its 2027 to 2031 capital investment plan includes significant proposed investment in electricity, water, wastewater, drainage and IT infrastructure “to address ageing assets, provide resilience, and support both forecast passenger growth and airport decarbonisation”, it notes.
Its plans also include the development of an integrated transport hub to modernise bus and coach facilities and provide for future integration with MetroLink, as well as targeted road junction upgrades, the redevelopment of car hire facilities and additional long-term passenger and staff parking.
“Given the scale, complexity and statutory planning requirements associated with major airport infrastructure, several projects necessarily span multiple regulatory periods, with construction and commissioning extending into the 2030s,” it adds.
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