Aer Rianta plans to spend £100 million (€127 million) on an internal rail system at Dublin Airport which will open in 2005. The announcement was made as the State airport operator confirmed yesterday that the Government had abandoned plans for its partial flotation.
A loop-line at Dublin Airport would link passenger and cargo terminals, car parks and car hire facilities, it said. Aer Rianta will operate the system, which it aims to link with a metro line planned by Government between the airport and Broadstone in the city centre. The company's spokesman denied that construction of the line would cause significant disruption for passengers.
Citing recent overcrowding at the airport, where many passengers felt safety was compromised, company chairman Mr Noel Hanlon said: "We all know of the difficult situation we faced in the past 18 months with regard to traffic and our plan in the next phase of development is to ensure that that won't happen again."
Mr Hanlon said the overcrowding arose because Aer Rianta was four years behind in its building programme. Aer Rianta's chief executive, Mr John Burke, said 13.8 million passengers used the airport last year. His "reasonably conservative" forecast suggested this would rise to 15 million in 2001 - and to 31.5 million by 2020.
The Government's decision not to pursue Aer Rianta's flotation comes despite the advice of two consultant groups, which said it should be floated as soon as possible. This follows news that ESB trade unions will oppose its flotation in the short term.
Mr Hanlon said the company remained committed to a flotation. "The Government has decided that it didn't consider it was right. It is our considered opinion that it is the best option."
A spokesman for the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, said she still favoured a part-flotation. The plan, however, is thought to have been blocked by certain Cabinet members.
Fine Gael's public enterprise spokesman, Mr Jim Higgins, said it was not clear whether the Government's decision was a short-term one only, taken in advance of a general election.
The metro line to the airport from Dublin city centre planned by the Government will extend northwards to Swords and, ultimately, southwards to Shankill. It will run underground in the city centre. The Government wants the line to the airport completed by 2008.
Ms O'Rourke's spokesman said she would establish a Rail Procurement Agency this year, which would manage the metro construction. The chief executive of the Dublin Transportation Office, Mr John Henry, said it favoured linking the metro to the loopline in an underground station beneath the airport terminal.
