Joined up approach could help to move passengers from Dublin Airport to Shannon Airport and such an approach would ease capacity issues in Dublin while making a positive impact in the mid-west region.
Clare Fianna Fáil Senator and Fianna Fáil Seanad Spokesperson on Transport, Timmy Dooley also said that a more made the comments to Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) CEO, Kenny Jacobs, during a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications.
Senator Dooley said: “I have to believe that if Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports worked in much closer co-operation, some of the pressure on Dublin Airport could be reduced. There is no competition with Dublin, quite frankly.
“If we thought about the passenger and the economic dividend throughout the country, we could have a much more joined-up approach. Some three or four million more passengers to Shannon Airport would make a huge difference to the development of the region. It would reduce the number of people who have to travel from the mid-west region to Dublin to get access to other parts of Europe. It would help to balance things and take away some of the pressure on Dublin Airport.”
Senator Dooley also called for a high-speed rail link to be built from Dublin Airport to Dublin city centre and on to Limerick City and Shannon Airport.
He said: “I cannot fathom why there has not been more joined-up thinking regarding roads and airports from a state perspective, which looks at the latent capacity we have in our other airports.
“Rather than building more capacity at Dublin Airport, we should build a high-speed rail link that connects Dublin Airport to Dublin city centre and runs on to the city of Limerick and Shannon Airport. That is done in other countries. It used to be the policy of a previous EU transport Commissioner. It made complete sense.”
