merrion street

The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross, has welcomed the announcement today by daa that the main construction contract for Dublin Airport’s new North Runway has been awarded to a joint venture comprising Irish firm Roadbridge and Spanish infrastructure company FCC Construcción (FCC).

Speaking prior to his departure from the airport, to Washington DC this morning, the Minister reiterated that he has always been acutely aware of the dependence of the national economy on Ireland’s airports:

I remain fully supportive of the provision of additional runway capacity at Dublin Airport. The airport experienced its seventh consecutive year of growth last year, welcoming close to 30 million passengers, and the importance of ensuring that we have adequate capacity at our biggest airport to drive national economic growth cannot be overstated. Project 2040 recognises, at a national level, the importance of delivering the North Runway as soon as possible, given its strategic importance for the whole country.

Construction of the North Runway is due to be completed in early 2021. Preliminary works, included site clearance, road and services diversions and a series of archaeological surveys commenced in late December 2016.

With a view to the longer term development of Ireland’s State Airports, the Minister published a Review of the Capacity Needs of Ireland State Airports last week. A consultation on this review, which looks at the needs of the airports to 2050, is now underway and is expected to be completed before the end of the year.