Emmet Stagg
Question:68 Mr. Stagg asked the Minister for Public Enterprise when she will sanction the £61 million capital investment by Aer Rianta in Cork Airport; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22725/00]
Written Answers. - Airport Development Projects.
Aer Rianta funds its capital development programme at each of the three State airports without recourse to the Exchequer. The company is proceeding with its planned expenditure programme of over £60 million at Cork Airport, and assures me that the main elements of these plans remain on schedule.
The investment plans for Cork Airport comprise four main elements – airfield, passenger terminal, cargo facilities and access, and the current status in relation to each of these elements is as follows.
As regards the airfield, the main runway has already been overlaid with asphalt and widened by the provision of 7.5 metre shoulders on both sides along the full length of the runway. This upgrades the existing concrete surface and extends the life of the runway by 15 to 20 years. This work cost £6 million and was completed last year.
An apron extension together with the provision of a new taxiway and the upgrading of an existing taxiway will commence before the end of this year. This project will cost £8 million and will take approximately 18 months to complete. When completed, it will provide more aircraft parking spaces and will facilitate the parking and handling of larger aircraft than can be accommodated at present.
With regard to the passenger terminal, the plan is to increase terminal capacity to handle 2.5 million passengers per annum by 2003 and to facilitate further expansion thereafter to handle growth up to five million passengers per annum in the medium to long term. A dedicated design team is working on the specification of this new facility. Aer Rianta is examining several options and consultations with users, especially airline and handling companies, are ongoing. The work will continue until the end of 2003 and will be followed by further phases. An estimated £33 million will be spent on the initial phase of the work, approximately £5.5 million next year, £5.5 million in 2002 and the remainder in 2003.
Work on cargo facilities is planned to commence midway through 2002 and be completed within 18 months with no delays expected. This work entails the provision of a new taxiway and aircraft parking area to the south of the terminal at a cost of £2.2 million.
With regard to airport access, the development plan includes a new internal roads system and the provision of surface and multi-storey car parking. A topographical survey has been commissioned as part of the essential preliminary preparations for these works. Surface car parking and the road works project will commence early next year, with the multi-storey development following on at the end of 2001. By the end of 2003, approximately £12 million will have been spent on these developments.
The growth in passenger traffic at Cork, far in excess of all forecasts, has created new pressures on the infrastructure. While there will be additional car parking and aircraft parking capacity for summer 2001, the terminal extension will not be in place for a further two years. In the meantime, Aer Rianta informs me that it is engaged in ongoing consultations with airport users to identify and implement short-term measures to alleviate congestion. These include a better spread of flight times, especially holiday charters, to optimise the use of existing facilities.