Dublin Airport

Dublin Airport (IATA: DUB, ICAO: EIDW), or Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath in Irish, is operated by the Dublin Airport Authority. Located in Collinstown, in the Fingal part of County Dublin, it is by far the busiest airport in Ireland - over 23.2 million passengers passed through the airport in 2007.[3] To put this into context, the population of the Greater Dublin Area is approximately 1.6 million, that of the Republic of Ireland is just over 4.3 million, and the island of Ireland just over 6 million. Passenger traffic at Dublin Airport is predominantly international; only 900,000 of its 23.2 million passengers in 2007 were domestic.

The airport is located approximately 10 kilometres north of Dublin City in a once rural area near Swords, and is served by buses and taxis. An underground railway line called 'Metro North' which will connect the airport to Swords and Dublin city centre has been approved and is in development.

The airport is the headquarters of Ireland's flag carrier Aer Lingus, and Europe's largest no-frills airline Ryanair. Ireland's third airline, CityJet, is based in the nearby town of Swords. Irish domestic and regional airline, Aer Arann, provides several domestic and UK routes from Dublin, but while part of its administration is based at Dublin Airport, its base is Galway Airport in the west of Ireland.

The airport has an extensive short and medium haul network, served by an array of carriers. Domestic services are offered to most regional Irish airports. There are approximately 50 daily departures from Dublin to all five London Airports (Stansted, Luton, Gatwick, Heathrow and London City). There is also a reasonably sized Long-haul network. Aer Lingus serves many popular US destinations, and has been able to add more thanks to the new open skies deal. US legacy carriers also serve the airport from major US hubs. Etihad Airways operates a daily service between the airport and Abu Dhabi.

United States border preclearance services are available at the airport for US-bound passengers. Dublin and Shannon are the only two European airports with this service. It allows passengers to have their paperwork dealt with before departure saving time upon arrival in the US. However, due to congestion there are numerous flights that do not use this facility. It is planned to have Customs and Department of Agriculture checks in the new terminal, meaning flights will not have to land in international terminals as all checks will have been completed.

Riding on the back of the roaring success of the ‘Celtic Tiger’ economy, Dublin in the new millennium is a city on the rise and rise. Business in many sectors is booming and the city overflows with tourists, who flock to the ‘party capital of Europe’ to sample the infamous Irish craic (fun). But things have not always been so rosy for this thousand-year-old city on the East coast of Ireland. For much of the first half of the 20th century, strife and unrest tore Dublin apart as it was involved in a messy and violent divorce from Britain. Despite ongoing attempts to find a lasting peace settlement, the religious and political troubles further north still dominate Irish politics. However, it is easy to see why tourists today head to Dublin in such large numbers. This vibrant, fun-loving city on the River Liffey is full of atmospheric pubs where the craic is spun with a well-polished finish and the streets echo with the ghosts of artistic luminaries such as James Joyce and W B Yeats. An excellent time to visit is between April and October, when the weather is at its best, with July and August the busiest months. Increasingly, however, the city is a popular destination throughout the year, with many festivals, cultural and religious events and sporting fixtures. Sightseeing highlights include the early medieval Christchurch Cathedral (Dublin’s oldest building), the cobbled streets of Temple Bar, Phoenix Park (Europe’s largest urban park), the National Gallery of Ireland and the treasures of the National Museum of Ireland, containing Europe’s finest collection of prehistoric gold artifacts. A plethora of buildings and museums ( including Trinity College, Ireland’s oldest university, and the Guinness Storehouse) convey a real sense of living history. Indeed, it is this living history, present in the media of music and literature, which has brought Dublin such international acclaim. In the 20th century, a string of poets and writers immortalized the city, none more so than James Joyce whose seminal Ulysses (1922), which depicts one day in Dublin, is considered by many literary critics to be the greatest novel of that century. In the new millennium, Dubliners are no longer content to rest on the laurels of this richly cultural history. Alongside the smoky old bars, the museums and the folk music in the pubs, there is a new Dublin of funky bars, rebuilt city streets and confident moneyed 20-somethings – an image that is being carried forward by popular music acts like Westlife, the Corrs and, the biggest of them all, U2. This new face of the Irish capital stems mainly from the stunning economic success of the country in recent years, which has managed to combine extensive funding from the EU with sound financial acumen to stimulate high levels of growth. Key industries include electronics, teleservices, retail and tourism. Dublin boasts the youngest population in Europe (with 41% under 25 years and 69% under 45 years). Its leafy parks are full of mobile phone swinging young professionals enjoying the summer, while during winter, they seek refuge in Dublin’s numerous bars. There is no denying Dublin, the ‘capital of Euro-cool’, is currently booming and its citizens are intent on enjoying it while it lasts.