Ryanair chief O’Leary calls for more departure gates at Dublin Airport to boost growth

Seen & Heard: Food bosses slam regulator move, and UK financial regulator to get tough with banks and insurers also make the headlines

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary wants more departure gates at Dublin Airport to cater for increased passenger numbers. Photograph: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images
Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary wants more departure gates at Dublin Airport to cater for increased passenger numbers. Photograph: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary wants State-owned DAA to build 10 to 20 new departure gates at Dublin Airport to cater for growth there, the Sunday Times reported.

The report said the airline chief executive maintains that the gates could be installed at hangar space next to Dublin’s terminal one, allowing Ryanair to exploit opportunities offered by the recently-built north runway.

The new departure gates could be linked to terminal one by a walkway. According to the Sunday Times, O’Leary argued that this would be better value than the DAA’s plan to build a tunnel costing €200 million, a proposal that Ryanair has repeatedly criticised.

O’Leary also suggested that a third terminal at Dublin Airport would be helpful as long as DAA did not run it. However, he conceded that it was hard to make an economic case for a new terminal.

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