Dublin Airport Authority expecting 3.2 million more passengers by 2020
In “commercially sensitive information” contained in new tender documents for a new barber’s outlet at the airport, the DAA is forecasting that the rate of passenger growth over the next four years will slow down compared to the 11.5% increase enjoyed last year.
Last year, 27.9 million passengers went through Dublin making it Europe’s fastest growing major airport.
The DAA is forecasting 4.6% customer growth this year — which would see last year’s 27.9m passengers rise to 29.2m. The authority is also projecting 31.1m passengers for 2020.
The new barbers is to be located in the arrivals hall at Terminal 2.
“The main rationale behind the tender is for a barbers to serve the circa 19,000 people employed at the airport and in airport-related businesses on campus or close to the airport campus,” said a DAA spokeswoman. “Dublin Airport is effectively a town in terms of the scale of employment provided by ourselves and a host of other companies,” she added.
Planning permission was recently granted for four office blocks as part of the next phase of the DAA’s Dublin Airport Central expansion programme and the tender documentation reveals that the development of two of these buildings will commence late this summer.
The buildings will be completed and ready for fit-out by late 2018 and the spokeswoman said that “the other two buildings will be developed in line with market demand”.
The tender states that over 250 businesses operate at Dublin Airport such as SR Technics, Boeing, seven car hire operators, taxi and bus operators, banks, retail outlets and airlines.
It also said that Dublin Airport is a key driver for Irish economic activity and that “last year, the number of jobs supported, or facilitated by Dublin Airport, increased from 97,400 in 2013 to 117,300”.
“Over 1,000 new full-time jobs were created by DAA Group in the last three years, bringing the total number of DAA employees at Dublin Airport to 3,000,” it added.
Dublin Airport has direct flights to over 185 destinations in 40 countries on four continents. The record passenger growth last year was helped by 19 new routes and additional capacity on 31 existing services.
Tempting would-be barbers, the tender documentation states “that Dublin Airport is in a period of growth”. It further points out that the location for this opportunity is landside, next to the Oak Bar overlooking the check-in desks. “This location will cater greatly for the large staff presence located on campus as well as both departing and arriving passengers,” it added.
