While many European capital city airports have little space to expand or develop due to their urban location, Dublin Airport's 1,000 hectare landbank provides it with a valuable asset and one on which it is underpining an ambitious airport city vision.
Following a feasability study by architects HOK International Ltd, an airport city master plan was drawn up and officially unveiled by Irish Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern in April 2008.
It called for the creation of a 700,000sqm office, retail, hotel and high-tech zone to provide a new economic hub for Ireland, constituting a world-class 'smart' economic zone focused on attracting the next generation of FDI in partnership with the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) and other state agencies.
Located on over 140 hectares of land to the east of the airport, Dublin Airport City (DAC) includes 500,000sqm of office space that will provide 20% of Dublin's annual uptake of office space when fully developed, as well as a high-tech R&D space designed to attract big name international firms such as Chevron GE and Unilever and will draw in new foreign investment.
A carefully developed sustainability strategy will ensure that DAC is built to the highest environmental standards and will draw in 'smart economy' employment to make Dublin Airport a favoured destination for knowledge-based products and services.
The DAC site will be linked to terminals 1 & 2 and the Metro North Airport station by a dedicated Automated People Mover (APM), allowing for a six-minute journey from office desk to check in desk.
The €4 billion DAC programme is a central element in the Dublin Airport Authority's (DAA) 10-year capital development programme, 'Transforming Dublin Airport', which was launched to provide infrastructure to accommodate the five-fold increase in passengers over the previous 15 years.
One of the key corporate objectives for DAA is to successfully develop and build all new facilities and capacity needed to manage the significant passenger and traffic growth projected for Ireland's airports in the future. This goal is central to the continued wellbeing, competitivness and future growth of the Irish economy.
A key project in this programme is the construction of a 75,000sqm Terminal 2. Set to be opened in November 2010, the €400 million building will be capable of accomodating 15 million passengers per annum and will make Dublin the only capital airport that allows visitors to clear US customs and immigration.
The airport operator believes the airport city has the potential to be a catalyst for Ireland's next wave of economic development, while securing long-term diversified revenue streams to fund the ongoing transformation of Dublin Airport into a global economic gateway to Europe.
