Dublin Airport’s North Runway, costing €320m is finally set to open this week, 15 years after it first received planning permission.
The project looked to be in jeopardy at times, with residents objecting to potential late-night aircraft noise.
Dublin Airport Authority was unhappy with planning permission restrictions on operational hours while the pandemic also slowed the project down.
However, with a pay-out of €20,000 in grants to approximately 300 affected homeowners and the strong rebound of international travel, the magnificent runway has finally been given permission for take-off.
The daa claims the new runway will result in a 31% gain in connectivity by 2034, underpinning Dublin’s position as a leading European airport. The project, which supported 1,200 jobs during its development phase, is expected to lead to the creation of 31,200 new positions by 2043. North Runway will add €2.2bn to Ireland’s GDP by then.
North Runway is located 1.69km to the north of the existing main runway. The surface is made of concrete, includes taxiways (there are seven in total) and extends to 360,000 square metres.
At this time there are no plans to build a new terminal, with daa insisting that the existing terminals have sufficient capacity to deal with the projected increase in passenger traffic.
You can watch the inaugural flight from North Runway on Dublin Airport’s YouTube channel today between 11.30 and 12.30 here: Dublin Airport – YouTube
