The Dublin Airport Authority has announced details of its plan for a second terminal to tackle chronic congestion.
The Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, says the long-term aim is to develop new road, rail and bus links to the airport.
Terminal Two is to be operational by 2009 and will cater for up to 15 million passengers a year. To pay for the ten-year expansion-plan, landing charges are to be increased from €5 to €7.50.
The Ryanair chief executive, Michael O'Leary, has criticised the announcement. Speaking on RTÉ Radio’s 57Live, Mr O'Leary said the Dublin Airport Authority had not discussed the plan with his company.
The new terminal will be located on the approach to the main terminal building, and will encompass the area currently occupied by Corballis House and a number of car hire firms.
The DAA says the new 50,000 square metre terminal is at the core of a €1.2 billion, ten-year Framework Development Programme to increase Dublin Airport's capacity from current levels of over 18 million passengers per year to over 30 million.
It is to cost between €170 million and €200 million depending on the design.
The DAA says the terminal's design will accommodate long-haul routes and facilitate the onward transfer of passengers and luggage.
The authority also plans to build Pier D, for which it already has planning permission. This new two-storey structure on the northern edge of the airfield will start operating by late 2007.
The DAA says it will soon award the contract to build Pier D and start a tender process for the detailed design of the second terminal.
The Government decided earlier this year that Dublin's second terminal would be built and owned by the DAA, with the selection of an operator to be decided by an open competition.
