Dublin Airport

Airport Information

Dublin Airport

Dublin Airport officially opened at 9:00am on January 19, 1940. It was a cold Friday morning when the inaugural flight – an Aer Lingus Lockheed 14 bound for Liverpool – departed from Collinstown Airport, as it was then known.

In the late 1930s, development had begun on a terminal building and grass runways at the Collinstown site. The architect of the new terminal building was Desmond FitzGerald, an elder brother of the former Taoiseach, Dr. Garret FitzGerald.

The curved building with its tiered floors was designed to echo the lines of a great ocean liner and won many architectural awards for its design. This original terminal building was designed to cater for just 100,000 passengers a year.

The airport opened with just one flight a day to Liverpool and Collinstown was effectively mothballed during the Second World War, as Aer Lingus operated a twice-weekly service to Liverpool. Aer Lingus resumed its London service to Croydon in November 1945.

By 1947, flights departing from Dublin had ventured as far as Continental Europe, with Dutch airline KLM beginning the first European service to Dublin. New concrete runways were completed in 1948, and in 1950 – after ten years in operation – the airport had been used by a total of 920,000 passengers.

By the late 1950s, the original terminal was incapable of handling growing passenger numbers, so the new North Terminal was opened in June 1959. Originally it had been planned that this building would handle all US and European flights, but instead it became the arrivals area for all passengers.

By the 1960s, new departure gate piers were added adjacent to the old terminal to cope with larger aircraft. However it soon it became apparent that the original terminal building could no longer cope with passenger demand. Work began in 1971 on a new terminal building designed to cater for an expected six million passengers per year. The new £10 million terminal opened in June 1972.

The airport has greatly expanded since then with the addition of a new terminal, new departure gate piers, an extension to the 1971 terminal building, a new runway and taxiways.

In November 2010, Dublin Airport’s Terminal 2 and its connected boarding gate pier were opened. The award-winning new terminal will allow the airport to handle more than 30 million passengers per year. It will ensure that Dublin Airport continues to be what Desmond FitzGerald had originally envisaged – a modern European airport that is Ireland’s premier aviation gateway.

More than 400 million passengers have travelled through Dublin Airport since that first flight took off in 1940. The old terminal, which is a listed building, is still partially used for daily passenger operations and many of the internal design features of the building have been retained as a reminder of those early days of aviation.

Airport News

New premium wine and food concept, The Reserve, lands at Dublin Airport with SSP

Passengers flying from Dublin Airport have a striking new wine and food bar to sample as SSP Group, a leading operator of food and beverage outlets in travel locations worldwide, has opened The Reserve in …

Trinity’s ground-breaking carbon capture tech takes off at Dublin Airport

Ground-breaking technology developed at Trinity, which captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, is being put through its paces at Dublin Airport – with the team behind its creation hoping to demonstrate its wider potential for …

Dublin Airport announces major improvements for passengers ahead of busiest ever summer

With more than 10 million passengers set to travel through Dublin Airport this summer, airport operator daa has announced details of a whole host of improvements that will ensure smooth journeys and smiles on the …

Dublin Airport ready to welcome 1.4 million passengers this Christmas

The 1.4 million passengers set to travel through Dublin Airport this Christmas will be welcomed by the airport's biggest ever festive entertainment programme with dozens of local choirs and musical acts lined up to perform …

Up to 100 new jobs on offer at Dublin Airport

Dublin Airport has announced plans to add up to 100 new security officers over the coming months as it gets ready to improve standards for passengers even further in 2025. As a record year at Dublin …

Ground-breaking ceremony takes place for new 412-room hotel at Dublin Airport

Accor and The Arora Group are proud to announce the ground-breaking of the highly anticipated Sofitel Dublin Airport, a new luxury hotel set to redefine the hospitality experience at Ireland's main international gateway.  The hotel will …

Minister McEntee has announced new contract for Automated Border Control eGates at Dublin Airport

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee recently announced a new contract for Automated Border Control “eGates” services for passport control in Dublin Airport. This new contract will see the upgrading of the existing eGates at Dublin Airport. …

Taoiseach Simon Harris Unveils New Sensory Facilities at Dublin Airport

Taoiseach Simon Harris has officially opened a new sensory room at Dublin Airport for passengers with autism, dementia, cognitive impairment, or other sensory needs. This initiative highlights Dublin Airport’s commitment to creating an inclusive environment …

Dublin Airport Ready To Welcome 30,000 Europa League Fans

Dublin Airport is set to welcome up to 30,000 football fans ahead of the Europa League Final in Dublin on Wednesday evening.  Around 20,000 fans of the two finalists - Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen - are …

Contact

Dublin Airport
Collinstown
Fingal
Dublin
Ireland
  • + 353 1 8141111

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