Sir, – Michael O’Leary, chief executive of Ryanair, argues that the restrictions on passenger numbers at Dublin Airport should be removed (“Dublin Airport passenger cap ‘bogus’ says Ryanair’s O’Leary”, News, September 13th).
Fingal County Council imposed an annual limit of 32 million passengers on Dublin Airport as a condition of its 2007 planning permission for the second terminal at the airport. The need to reduce traffic congestion and promote noise abatement around Dublin Airport have been cited as reasons for the restriction.
Regional policy is relevant to this controversy. The national economy needs regional policy. Frequently, worldwide, capital cities grow too fast and get overheated, with high congestion costs and demands for new infrastructure. This often coincides with surplus infrastructure in alternative regional centres. Thus, the co-existence of congestion in some parts of the country and under-used resources elsewhere imposes national economic costs on everybody. Regional policy can help.
The resolution could be to promote improved services from the alternative airports of Cork, Shannon and Ireland West. All have available capacity. They have excellent road links to Dublin. For this to work, it would be essential to provide regular shuttle bus services to Dublin directly from each of these airports, such as every hour or even every 30 minutes.
Furthermore, a significant proportion of passengers via Dublin are destined for the west and south. They only travel through Dublin because of the high level of services there. Diversion of this group to the other airports would be an additional benefit. This initiative cannot be secured by the airport authorities and the airlines alone. It needs joined-up thinking and strategic action by the Government. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN CALLANAN,
Ennis Road,
Limerick.