"Developer slams Dublin airport terminal proposal"

Sunday, February 6, 2005

McEvaddy slams airport terminal proposal
Ireland - The Sunday Business Post


The cabinet will come under pressure on the location of the second terminal
at Dublin Airport after businessman Ulick McEvaddy this weekend criticised
the proposal to build the terminal on state-owned land at the airport.

McEvaddy who has submitted his own plan to build a second terminal,
described the proposal as "bankrupt'", saying the terminal, if constructed
on the state-owned site, would "end up like the M50 inadequate from the day
it starts operations'".

The latest plan floated by senior officials at the Department of Transport
supports the construction of the terminal on the state-owned land.

Under the plan, the Dublin Airport Authority would build the terminal and it
would be run by a private operator under the compromise solution now being
considered.

The new building would be located on the site targeted by budget airline
boss Michael O'Leary for a low-cost terminal.

The most recently proposed scheme would scupper McEvaddy's plan to build a
450 million private terminal on his lands next to the airport.

McEvaddy's site was endorsed by consultants for the Fingal County
Development Plan as the superior location for infrastructural and traffic
reasons.

Transport minister Martin Cullen is now studying all the options on the
second terminal site and is expected to bring proposals to cabinet shortly.

McEvaddy, chief executive of Omega, said the latest plan would cause maximum
possible disruption to 18 million business and tourism passengers over its
four-year construction.

It would require extensive demolition at the airport before construction
started, including four hangars owned by the former FLS Aerospace, the
airport's church and an Aer Lingus building.

"This is the same bankrupt philosophy that the previous board (of Aer
Rianta) proposed over the past 10 years," said McEvaddy.

Industry sources have speculated that the airport's short-term car park
would also have to be partly demolished to accommodate wider road access.

McEvaddy claims that there would be insufficient ramp space for aircraft
less than the required 40 acres. "Another terminal would be needed in five
years' time," he said.

Ulick and Des McEvaddy, in partnership with property developer Gerry Gannon,
want to build a terminal on a 150-acre land bank west of the airport owned
by the brothers.

Their terminal would be reached on a new N2 road network off the M50 planned
by Fingal County Council, avoiding congestion on the M1 motorway.

A spokesman for the Department of Transport said there were a number of
permutations to the proposals. For example, it could be financed and
operated by the airport authority, or by a private entity or a mixture of
the two.

"It's important that it will tie in with future plans of the airport and the
Fingal County Development Plan. There are logistical and operational issues
in terms of its delivery," said the spokesman.


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