Reduced airport expansion go-ahead

The dublin airport Authority (DAA) has been granted permission the first phase expansion of its airport by the An Bord Pleanala, the Irish Republic's Planning Board.

The decision means the DAA will only be able to build a new second terminal, with a planned new runway subject to 31 stringent environmental conditions, including restrictions on number and timings of flights.

The board's ruling follows months of public hearings into the DAA's € 2 billion master plan to double capacity at the congested airport.

In granting permission to build the new terminal and runway the Board rejected its own planning inspector's recommendation that it should be refused, mainly because of the "particularly problematic" issue of aircraft noise.

The board said it considered the € 150 million runway and € 609 million terminal "necessary to meet the foreseeable need for aviation travel at Dublin airport and to provide for the safe expansion of air traffic at the airport", in line with stated Government policy.

The An Bord Pleanala cited the goverment's National

Development Plan 2007-2011, the National Spatial Strategy 2002-2020 and Transport 21, all of which provide for the airport's expansion alongside an upgraded public transport system and improved road network.

The DDA must also pay Fingal County Council levies of € 21 million for the new runway and € 12,5 million for the second terminal.

This will be used to help pay for road improvements needed to meet the rise in passengers using the airport once the expansion works are complete in 2010.