SITA - Air Transport Communication and IT solutions.

Passengers will be able to clear both US immigration and customs prior to departure

SITA, the specialist in air transport communications and IT solutions, today announced that it has been awarded a major contract by the Dublin Airport Authority to act as Systems Integrator for the specialist IT and communications systems for the airport's new €395 million Terminal Two.

Scheduled to open in November 2010, the new terminal will increase current capacity significantly at the airport allowing it to handle more than 30 million passengers per year using a portfolio of IT solutions and applications which will maximise efficiency and improve the quality of the passengers' time in the airport. The new terminal will also include new facilities to allow passengers to clear US Customs and Immigration before leaving Ireland.

SITA, which has provided passenger processing and data communication services to the Dublin Airport Authority for more than 10 years, will provide the new terminal with fully integrated IT systems with all applications running on a common network infrastructure. In total, SITA, partnering with a number of leading technology providers, will deliver fourteen systems including the data network, wireless and radio networks; CCTV; Access Control; Telephony; the Operations Control Centre; Passenger Screening and the Terminal's display systems. The implementation will ensure the highest levels of cost and management control by the airport and a state-of-the-art IT infrastructure.

Declan Collier, CEO, Dublin Airport Authority, said: "Our investment in infrastructure will transform the passenger experience at Dublin airport. We are delighted that a company of SITA's experience and expertise has come through the selection process to manage the systems implementation at the new terminal and help the DAA ensure Dublin airport operates at the highest international levels and is a world-class gateway to Ireland."

Rob Watkins, SITA Regional Vice President, Sales and Relationship Management, Northern Europe, said: "Our team of specialists in Dublin is working with other leading global suppliers to ensure that the IT systems will allow the most efficient management of the airport.

"SITA is also developing unique and innovative applications for the DAA to ensure that Dublin is attractive to both airlines and passengers. One such application will support the US Customs and Border Protection operations in Dublin. This new Baggage Imaging System will be used by US Customs authorities during pre-flight clearance and will allow passengers to clear both US immigration and customs in Ireland, differentiating Dublin from other European capital city airports as a major gateway to the United States."

Dublin is Ireland's largest airport handling 75% of all air traffic into the country. The development of Terminal 2 is part of the Transforming Dublin Airport Plan; the first phase, which runs until the delivery of T2, includes a range of measures focussed on improving the passenger experience such as improved check-in and boarding areas and a range of campus-wide investment in new airfield facilities, new utilities, new airport roadways, and passenger set-down and pick-up areas.

More than 1,700 people are currently working on T2 and associated projects and the numbers employed on the programme will rise to about 2,400 during the peak construction phase later this year.