Ryanair says Mothball DAA’s €1.2bn T2 Taj Mahal

At a time when Terminal 1 has capacity for 30m passengers, and Dublin Airport's traffic has declined (for a second year) to less than 18m passengers, it is clear that the DAA's €1.2bn T2 is a turkey which Irish tourism doesn't need this Christmas.

Ryanair today quoted from the DAA's September 2005 T2 press release which said:

"The new terminal which will become operational in late 2009, will cost between €170m and €200m to build".

As usual, the hapless DAA monopoly has totally mismanaged the T2 project, with the result that it will now open in November 2010, more than 12 months late and at a cost of €1.2bn, five times over the original €170m-€200m budget.

To pay for this white elephant, the DAA monopoly has been jacking up airport fees, which in 2010 alone have risen by 40% (when inflation is 0%) and will rise again by 40% in 2011. Combined with the Govt's €10 tourist tax, these cost increases have made Irish airports uncompetitive and caused record collapses in traffic in 2009 and again in 2010. Over the past two years, Dublin Airport's traffic has fallen from 23.5m in 2008 to under 18m in 2010. This second year of record traffic losses contrasts markedly with the rapid traffic growth being delivered by Ryanair at many other European airports who have lowered costs, scrapped passenger taxes and returned to growth in 2010.

In response to the DAA monopoly's 40% increase in airport fees, Ryanair announced further cuts at Dublin Airport, with the loss of an additional 48 weekly flights, from January 2011, resulting in 380,000 fewer passengers p.a. using the high cost Dublin Airport in 2011. Ryanair will cut its Dublin - Cork flights from two to one return flight per day, while Dublin flights to/from East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow (Prestwick), Leeds Bradford and Manchester will also be reduced.

DUBLIN FLIGHT & PAX CUTS 2011

Ryanair believes that the DAA/DOT led collapse in Irish tourism can be reversed, but only when the failed policy of paying for expensive Taj Majal's and taxing tourists are reversed. Ryanair called on the Government to adopt an emergency tourism renewal strategy comprising:

1. Mothball the €1.2bn T2 Taj Mahal which isn't needed.

2. Scrap the failed €10 tourist tax.

3. Break up the failed DAA monopoly by selling off Cork and Shannon airports, as well as Terminals 1 and 2 at Dublin to competing, efficient airport operators.

4. Restore low cost access (rather than the DAA's financial viability) to the heart of Ireland's tourism policy.

Ryanair's Michael O'Leary said:

"The Department of Transport and the DAA have destroyed Irish tourism over the past two years. The fact that the T2 Taj Mahal is over 12 months late, and has cost €1.2bn instead of the original €200m, is further proof of the incompetence and stupidity of both the Department of Transport and the DAA monopoly. Let's not forget that in 2003, the DOT received 13 expressions of interest from private sector developers to build a competing second terminal at Dublin Airport for less than €200m. If a competing terminal were now in place, then the DAA's airport fees would be falling, not rising by 40% in a year when inflation is 0%.

"This €1.2bn white elephant should be mothballed, or sold. Otherwise the Department of Transport will continue to destroy tourism by ordering the Regulator to raise airport prices to protect the financial viability of the failed DAA monopoly rather than promoting terminal competition in the consumer interest.

"The DAA and their downtown office in the Department of Transport will doubtless claim that this €1.2bn T2 is a "beautiful building" and is a "symbol of modern Ireland". However, the Taj Mahal is a beautiful building, but it didn't cost €1.2bn to build. Equally T2 is a fitting symbol of modern Ireland, since it is an over big, over specified, over budget, bankrupt property, which Irish tourism doesn't need and cannot afford."

"Terminal 2 should be mothballed which would at least save duplicating the operating costs of two terminals at Dublin Airport when the existing terminal already has capacity for some 30m passengers. Thanks to the policy failure of the DOT and the incompetence of the DAA monopoly, Irish airports are now totally uncompetitive against their European peers which is why traffic at Dublin is collapsing, while traffic growth has returned at most other European airports.