Dublin airport's biggest customer, Ryanair,, has lodged a planning appeal against the green light for a €200 million tunnel planned for the airport.
Last month, Fingal County Council granted planning permission to airport operator, daa for the tunnel under the airport’s 'Crosswind' runway.
The planned twin cell enclosed subterranean tunnel is 700 metres long with the overall alignment being 1.1 km in length from 'ramp to ramp’.
Daa lodged the plans "to improve the safety and efficiency of the airfield".
The Council granted planning after its planner concluded that the proposed development "entails a critical airfield operational safety project".
On Tuesday, An Bord Pleanála confirmed that appeals against the decision have been lodged by Ryanair and local residents group, SMTW Environmental DAC.
Daa has also lodged an appeal against condition(s) attached to the planning permission.
The underpass is a key part of daa's €1.9 billion Capital Investment Plan and according to daa "will provide both direct and indirect benefits to all operators at the airport."
The Council granted planning permission last month after its planner in the case concluded that the proposal will not give rise to significant environmental effects.
Dublin airport is unofficially divided into an Eastern Campus, which hosts most of the airport’s infrastructure, and a Western Campus mainly used for cargo, with the Crosswind Runway 16/34 bisecting the two campuses.
With the opening of the new North runway last year, the means of access between the Eastern and Western Campus across runway 16/34 was no longer considered viable by daa.
Planning documentation stated that the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) advised that the continued use of the surface crossing after the opening of the North Runway is unsustainable from a safety perspective.
In documents lodged with Fingal Co Council, consultants for daa said that the new tunnel is both efficient in operational terms and robust in safety terms.
If the planning permission is upheld by the appeals board, construction on the project is estimated to take about three years in total, with site mobilisation taking three months, the cut-and-fill operation about 18 months, with testing and handover a further nine months.
On behalf of Ryanair, Ray Ryan of BMA Planning told Fingal County Council that "if the current underpass project is allowed to proceed, it will contribute towards an excessively high per passenger price cap and damage the recovery of Irish aviation, which depends on the cost competitiveness of Dublin airport".
Mr Ryan stated that Ryanair "is concerned that these proposals will lead to considerable disruption to airport activities during the construction phase and that whether alternatives have been adequately addressed".
SMTW Environmental DAC told the Council that based on estimated four vehicle movements per hour in both directions, it was difficult to comprehend the planned daa spend on the project.
