Left: Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport. Another expansion is being considered to cope with rising passenger numbers
Following news that the Irish government is looking into the possibility of Dublin Airport receiving a third terminal to cope with rising passenger numbers (read about it here), Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has stepped forward, offering to build the facility for €200m (US$220m).
O’Leary’s proposal came at a business breakfast organized by Fine Gael, Ireland’s governing political party, and attended by colleagues and government ministers.
The Ryanair boss’s grievance is with the state-owned Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), which manages Dublin Airport, and with which O’Leary has clashed many times in the past. O’Leary made a similar offer when the airport planned its second terminal, which opened in 2010. Ryanair and the DAA disagreed several times on cost and design, with O’Leary stating often that he would just build the terminal himself. His latest suggestion is that Ryanair oversees the third terminal, rather than the DAA.
Talk at the breakfast also turned to Dublin Airport’s second runway, with construction planned to start next year – despite permission being granted in 2007. O’Leary said that airlines should not pay more than the collective €250m (US$275m) agreed with the Commission of Aviation Regulation two years ago, while the DAA has already revealed that costs are more likely to be €320m (US$354m).
