The business community is becoming increasingly worried that Dublin Airport is giving the State a negative reputation, according to the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland.
Earlier this month, an Association of European Airlines (AEA) survey found that Dublin topped the table for the most frequent delays between April and June of this year. More than one in four flights took off over 15 minutes late during that time.
Oslo Airport in Norway was the most prompt of 27 European airports, with just 7.6 per cent of flights delayed.
Of the 27.6 per cent of delayed flights, airport and air-traffic control accounted for most delays (12.6 per cent).
The transfer of British air-traffic control operations to Swanwick in the south of England earlier this year explains many of these delays, according to Aer Lingus and Aer Rianta.
The relocation involved teething problems, and the computer was shut down on some occasions. Since so many flights from this State go through British air space, the problem had a greater effect here than in the rest of Europe.
Aer Lingus is concerned about this. A spokeswoman commented: "We are having dialogue with the UK at the moment to try to sort this out."
Aer Rianta pointed out that, while business was down at most airports after September 11th, passenger numbers had continued to increase at Dublin Airport.
The business community has been worried for some time about problems at the airport, according to Mr Tadhg Kearney, chairman of the Air Transport Users' Council. He accepted that there were problems with British air-traffic control but said that Dublin Airport would have to show significant improvements in the next survey.
The council is calling for speedy construction of an independent terminal at the airport as well as the prioritisation of a metro link.
